Report: Cable Edges DSL in Satisfaction

Cable high-speed-data providers have a slight edge in consumer satisfaction over digital-subscriber-line service providers, according to the latest research by comScore Networks Inc. for the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing.

A study of 1,455 consumers showed that 79% of cable customers ranked their data service good or very good, based on performance. Also, 78% ranked the speed of the service good to very good.

By comparison, 75% of DSL users said that product's performance was good to very good and 70% highly ranked the speed.

It also appears cable has the more "sticky" product: 22% of cable-modem users said they'd never think of using another product, while only 15% of DSL customers were that satisfied, according to the poll.

Customers willing to swap technologies will do so for greater speed, the research also showed. In fact, 20% of the respondents had changed technologies in the past 12 months. The majority (67%) dumped dial-up for a faster connection.

The comScore poll was taken the week of Sept. 20 among consumers 18 and older. It has a margin of error of 2.6%.