TORONTO – Among Canadian wireless carriers, SaskTel and Virgin Mobile have the most satisfied customers, according to a survey released today by JD Power and Associates.
Now in its second year, the Canadian Wireless Customer Satisfaction Study, which is paid for by the wireless industry, "examines attitudes of wireless customers with their service, mobile phone and retail experience," says the press release.
Rankings are provided for contract service and prepaid service providers, as well as for mobile phone providers. SaskTel Mobility ranks highest in customer satisfaction among contract service providers, while Virgin Mobile ranks highest among prepaid providers. LG is the highest-ranking mobile phone brand.
A Telus source told Cartt.ca that the company wasn’t part of the participating companies who chose to fund the survey – and that it uses churn as a leading customer satisfaction indicator, which is actually better than this survey’s leader, SaskTel, said the source.
Customer satisfaction with contract service has increased over 2005, says the release. Additionally, all wireless service providers included in both the 2005 and 2006 contract service rankings register substantial improvements from 2005. Overall satisfaction with contract service is based on five factors: call quality, billing, service plan options, cost of service and customer service, says the release.
"With a strong improvement from 2005, SaskTel Mobility remains the highest-ranking contract service provider for a second consecutive year. Posting an overall index score of 728, SaskTel receives the highest ratings in call quality, service plan options and customer service. SaskTel is followed in the rankings by Fido (713), Telus Mobility (687), Aliant (685) and MTS Mobility (682), respectively," it says.
According to the study, the average number of minutes contracted for a weekday service plan is 187, though customers report using only 51% of those minutes. Contract customers use an average of 16 long-distance minutes, which accounts for only 29% of their contracted amount.
Virgin Mobile (764) ranks highest among prepaid service providers. Aliant (692) and Telus Mobility (691), respectively, follow.
The average monthly fee paid by contract customers is $74, compared with $29 for prepaid customers.
LG (732) ranks highest among mobile phone brands, performing particularly well in features, designs and operation. LG is followed in the rankings by Sanyo (727), Samsung (724) and Sony Ericsson (722), respectively.
The study is based on responses from nearly 6,000 mobile phone users surveyed in October 2006.
