A Summary of the 2006 Consumer
Reports Wireless Survey

Cingular Again Ranks Low In Consumer Reports Study

Consumer Reports' 2006 Wireless Satisfaction Survey (due out in its January 1997 issue) continues to show Cingular Wireless as the carrier with the least satisfied customers.

This year's survey, conducted by the nonprofit magazine, polled just under 43,000 individuals in 20 major metropolitan cities.

Wireless Carrier Rankings:

As it has in the past, Verizon Wireless again ranked best overall in network quality and responsiveness to customer's concerns. This year, however, the carrier experienced more competition than in years past.

Both Alltel and T-Mobile USA ranked high in this year's study, surpassing Verizon's rank in several cities.

Alltel received high service satisfaction ratings in three of the regions it provides coverage, including Cleveland, Phoenix and Tampa.

T-Mobile ranked “a solid performer” in several cities, but lacked service coverage in four of the twenty cities surveyed, Cleveland, Detroit, Miami and San Diego.

Sprint/Nextel and Cingular Wireless scored near the bottom of the wireless satisfaction survey, with Cingular again ranking as the carrier with the lowest user satisfaction.

Consumer Reports noting that Cingular’s advertised claim of the “fewest dropped calls” was misleading. The report went on to say the carrier was "about average" in dropped calls, but was "one of the poorer performers" in the overall study.

Wireless Study Highlights:

• Cell phone service providers scored only 66 on a scale of 0 to 100 for overall satisfaction. According to the report, that throws them into the catagorie with other perpetual low scoring industries, including cable tv and computer tech support.

• 54% of the repondents who switched carriers during the past three years stated their decision was due to poor phone service, including dropped calls and no service at all. Only 33% switched service providers because of a better price.
• Only 5% of this year's poll respondents use their cell phone at home, instead of a landline. The report contributes those declining numbers to the nation's poor E911 problems.

If you'd like more information about the study, you can get a paid subscription to the Consumer Reports magazine, found online at www.ConsumerReports.org.