Ratings of cellular service providers and handset manufacturers fell short in the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which for the first time, included the wireless industry in its yearly first-quarter report ranking the transportation/communications/utilities and services sectors.
“Wireless is an industry to watch,” said Jack West, past president of the American Society for Quality. “Now that we’re seeing how wireless stacks up against other industries, it is disturbing that one of America’s supposedly cutting-edge industries is not doing better.”
Both providers and manufacturers scored below the ACSI average of 74.4 out of 100 possible points-the highest it has been since the annual rankings began in 1994. The sector also ranked below traditional fixed-line telephone service, which scored an average of 71.
Service providers averaged 65 points, with Verizon Wireless scoring 68, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. coming in second with 63, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. with 61 points and Sprint PCS trailing with 59 points.
Meanwhile, manufacturers averaged 69 points, placing Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. at the top with a score of 73, followed by Nokia Corp. with a 72, and Kyocera Corp. and Motorola Inc. tying with 70 points each.
ACSI scores are determined through a set of equations that link customer expectations, perceived quality and perceived value to customer satisfaction.
