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.”
