Verizon had the highest satisfaction level in large parts of the U.S., according to the latest J.D. Power mobile performance ratings. People’s overall satisfaction with their wireless carriers has increased, even though increased use of their phones has caused them to experience more problems with their carriers, researchers said.
Perhaps those problems were offset by the fact that customers said their providers were more reliable for streaming music and videos and for email and apps than in the past. Users also increasingly find that their smartphone data is faster than expected.
The researchers also found that people are more anxious when they misplace or are away from their phone than in the past.
Mobile Performance Ratings
The J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Wireless Network Quality Performance Study, which was based on responses from 35,120 wireless customers, found that Verizon ranked highest in the Mid-Atlantic, North Central, Southeast and West regions. It tied with T-Mobile in the Northeast. AT&T ranked highest in the Southeast.
“Overall network quality satisfaction is improving, and the race for number one is tightening,” J.D. Power Managing Director Ian Greenblatt said in a press release. “As carriers generally continue to improve their network offering and message this quality to the market, we will likely continue to see a narrowing of the performance gap between competitors.”
The mobile performance ratings highlighted the reported problems on a regional basis.
- Mid-Atlantic: Verizon Wireless (10 reported problems per 100 devices), AT&T (11, which also was the region average), T-Mobile (12).
- North Central: Verizon Wireless (10), AT&T (11), U.S. Cellular (12, region average), and T-Mobile (13).
- Northeast: T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless (11, region average) and AT&T (12).
- Southeast: Verizon Wireless (10), AT&T (11, region average) and T-Mobile (12).
- Southwest: AT&T (11), T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless (12, region average).
- West: Verizon Wireless (10), AT&T and T-Mobile (12). The region average was 11.
This was the second time in a week that one of the carries had something to crow about. Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index Market Analysis for the fourth quarter of 2022 found that T-Mobile performed best in most categories. The two results are not necessarily contradictory, however, because the research firms measured different aspects of network performance.
