J.D. Power: Wireline Service Satisfaction Rises

Consumers were generally more satisfied with wireline TV, broadband and phone services, according to in J.D. Powers’ latest annual regional report of the nation’s top service providers.  

With a few exceptions mixed in, incumbent cable operators tended to trail their telco and satellite competitors in each service category and region.

J.D. Powers said the study, based on a 1,000-point scale, factored in responses from 30,358 customers nationwide. J.D. Powers’  1,000-point scale bases scores on the following factors: performance and reliability; cost of service; programming (TV only); billing; communication; and customer service.

Comcast and Time Warner Cable, which are in the process of merging, posted below average scores across service categories and regions. Comcast, however, will be looking to improve those scores in the months and years ahead after recently naming company vet and X1 developer Charlie Herrin to senior vice president, consumer experience, a post that will span all of Comcast Cable’s business units.

By region and service type, here’s how all of the players stacked up:

Residential TV Service

Satisfaction with performance and reliability improved to 743 in 2014, up 17 points from 726 in 2013. Customers also experienced fewer TV service quality problems in 2014, with 31% saying they had experienced picture freezing in the past 3 months, versus 38% in 2013. About 46% reported experiencing a temporary loss of signal, a decrease from 51% in the year prior. Slightly fewer customers experienced a television outage in 2014, compared with 2013 (28% vs. 30%, respectively).

East Region

DirecTV--738

Verizon FiOS - 738

Dish Networks -- 735

East Region Average -- 706

Cox Communications 701

Cablevision Systems -- 693

Comcast -- 684

TWC -- 668

North Central Region

AT&T U-verse -- 750

WideOpenWest (WOW!) -- 728

Dish  -- 727

DirecTV -- 716

Bright House Networks - 713

North Central Average -- 710

Comcast 682

Charter Communications -- 678

TWC -- 668

South Region

Verizon FiOS -- 751

DirecTV -- 748

AT&T U-verse -- 743

Dish -- 735

Bright House -- 731

South Region Average -- 720

Suddenlink Communications - 710

Cox -- 694

Charter -- 688

Comcast -- 685

TWC -- 677

West Region

Dish -- 739

AT&T U-verse -- 738

DirecTV -- 736

Verizon FiOS -- 732

Cox -- 704

West Region Average -- 704

Charter -- 679

Comcast -- 670

TWC -- 658

Mediacom Communications -- 593

Residential Internet Service

J.D. Power said satisfaction with performance and reliability in the residential Internet service category improved to 700 in 2014, an increase of 37 points from 663 in 2011. ISPs reduced the average number of website connection errors experienced by customers in the past three  months to 2.9 from 4.4 in 2013, a 35% improvement. Providers also reduced general service outages by 31% year-over-year (1.1 vs. 1.6, respectively). Customers also experienced fewer Internet speed problems, with just 2.1 instances of excessively slow loading during the past 3 months, compared with 3.0 in 2013.

East Region

Verizon -- 712

AT&T -- 705

East Region Average -- 687

Cablevision Systems -- 686

Cox -- 685

Comcast --668

TWC --658

Frontier Communications -- 655

North Central Region

WOW! -- 728

AT&T -- 704

Cincinnati Bell -- 704

North Central Average -- 685

Charter -- 670

Comcast -- 670

TWC -- 659

Frontier -- 650

CenturyLink Communications -- 640

South Region

Verizon -- 725

Bright House – 718

Suddenlink -- 708

AT&T -- 707

South Region Average 692

Cox -- 690

Charter -- 689

CenturyLink -- 680

Comcast -- 676

TWC -- 666

Windstream Communications -- 623

West Region

AT&T -- 704

Cox -- 700

Verizon -- 692

Charter -- 678

West Region Average -- 671

CenturyLink -- 662

TWC -- 651

Comcast -- 650

Frontier -- 638

Mediacom – 595

Residential Phone Service

Overall satisfaction with performance and reliability is 754, up from 749 in 2013.The incidence of general outages with phone service declined, affecting 17% of households in 2014, compared with 21 percent in 2013.

East Region

AT&T -- 740

Verizon -- 725

Frontier -- 722

Cox -- 716

East Region Average -- 715

Cablevision -- 702

Comcast -- 696

TWC -- 679

North Central Region

WOW! -- 767

AT&T -- 730

Cincinnati Bell -- 721

North Central Average 716

Charter -- 703

Comcast -- 698

TWC -- 690

CenturyLink -- 683

Frontier -- 677

South Region

Bright House -- 751

Verizon -- 742

Cox -- 735

AT&T -- 730

South Average --725

Charter -- 724

CenturyLink -- 716

TWC -- 704

Comcast -- 696

Windstream -- 683

West Region

Cox -- 739

AT&T -- 732

Verizon -- 719

West Average -- 715

CenturyLink -- 709

Charter -- 706

Comcast -- 688

TWC -- 687

Frontier -- 681

“The ability to provide a high-quality experience with all wireline services is paramount as performance and reliability is the most critical driver of overall satisfaction,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director of telecommunications at J.D. Power, in a statement. “While customers may be leveraging the same network or connection across multiple services, their experience can be different given the equipment type, connection to the home, service plans used and the different activities performed on each.”