Wireless Carriers: Getting The Best Reception
A cell phone is only as good as the carrier that provides the signal. One could easily devote as much time to researching call plans and call reception as they could to choosing cell phones. Finding good data on this can be difficult, as choosing a wireless carrier involves analyzing so many variables that many online review sites wont even touch the subject.
According to J.D. Power and Associates, the quality of cell phone services has reached such a high standard across the board that there was no longer a reason to own a traditional phone line anymore. Yet nothing can be more confusing than statistics. According to comScore Networks, a whopping one in four cell phone customers are not satisfied with their wireless carrier. With such an astonishingly large statistic, its clear that cell phone signal technology is still in its adolescence. Ask any of your friends about cell phone reception horror stories and theyll have plenty of fireside tales to tell you. J.D. Power and Associates also asserts that call carrier customers who did not have their complaints resolved by customer service were six times more likely to switch carriers. But heres the rub: If one isnt satisfied with ones cell phone, its easy enough to get another one. But dropping a cell phone carrier is another matter. The advent of phone carrier contracts with cancellation penalty fees has largely come about to combat cell phone carrier dissatisfaction . Even the advent of 3G Networks, which was announced with great fanfare, still hasnt quelled a considerable percentage of cell phone customers that are not happy with their carriers. The following is brief rundown of which carriers rank best.
ComScore says that Verizon Wireless is best in terms of coverage and service, and consistently so. Being rated the best carrier over and over again. And that only about 6% of their customers break their contract.
After Verizon, AT&T comes in at the number two spot. Alltel contract breakers are higher at 9%. Sprint/Nextel comes in at 11% and at the bottom with a high ratio of customers that are breaking their contracts at 15% is T-Mobile.
The above comScore survey is not location specific and uses the percentage of customers breaking the service contract as the main determinant for popularity. A J.D. Power and Associates survey does confirm Verizon as the leader, but adds that this is particularly true in the Northeast, where Verizons coverage is the strongest. T-Mobile, with the lowest rating in the comScore survey, actually ranked first in the Southwest, according to JD Power. Moreover, Verizon also ranks lower in terms of the phones that run its service, which tend to use CDMA technology rather than GSM. As a result, Verizon phones tend to not accept SIM cards (Subscriber Identity Modules) which prevents their use when travelling overseas. Verizons rates also ranked as considerably more expensive than its rivals, and though its customer service gets high marks, its bills tend to be confusing to read.
Sprint is also very popular in the Southwest, according to J.D. Powers and Associates. But J.D. Powers and Associates also concedes that Sprint ranks lowest in call quality. The PcMagazime survey also confirms that Sprint ranks lowest in call quality. The PCMagazine survey also gave T-Mobile a rank as the best carrier in terms of pricing. This is second to Alltel when it comes to service plan options. GSM cell phones, and a wide variety of them can be used on the T-Mobile network these GSM/SIM card compatible phones also enabe you to use the one overseas.
When is comes to prepaid cell phones, they deserve a category on their own. Virgin Mobile had the highest points, just ahead of TracFone and T-Mobile. Verizon Prepaid service as well as AT&T prepaid service follow in order of decreasing popularity, with good old Sprint/ Nextel at the bottom of the rankings.
So which carrier should you choose? Well this all depends on how many phone calls you make, what area you make them in, if you travel a lot, and which carrier offers the best phone options. Ultimately it is up to you. But doing your due diligence will help you to avoid getting into a contract you will want to break out of.
June 26 2009 12:05 am | Tips