T-Mobile USA Inc. again topped a J.D. Power and Associates ranking, this time garnering the highest overall customer satisfaction among wireless voice and data service for business customers as part of J.D. Power and Associates 2005 Business Wireless Satisfaction Study. T-Mobile USA also topped a trio of consumer-focused studies released by J.D. Power and Associates last year.
T-Mobile USA posted an industry-leading score of 744 in the business study, just nipping Verizon Wireless with 737 points. J.D. Power and Associates noted that T-Mobile USA performed well across all factors in the study, including sales representatives/account executives, billing, offers and promotions, cost of service and customer service.
“As we have found in the consumer segment of other wireless studies the firm conducts, T-Mobile has differentiated itself from the competition in areas related to the cost of running a business, specifically creating a sense of value for the services offered,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services for J.D. Power and Associates. “In the business community, cost-related issues such as initial equipment purchases and upgrades, service plan offerings, promotional packages, system integration and even billing options are important elements that impact the daily decision-making process. T-Mobile appears to be meeting these needs in a cost-effective manner.”
Verizon Wireless was singled out for performing well in call quality, performance/reliability and company image categories of the study.
Cingular Wireless L.L.C. posted a score of 711 in the study-which was below the industry average score of 717-followed by Sprint PCS with 709 points and Nextel Communications Inc. with 704 points.
The study also found that offerings and promotions were of greater importance to midsize and large businesses with more than 100 employees, whereas performance and reliability were more important for small businesses with fewer than 100 employees.
Overall, the study noted that businesses spent an average of $4,116 per month for wireless voice service and $2,859 per month for wireless data services. Nearly 90 percent of businesses surveyed said they subscribed to a voice-calling plan compared with 54 percent of businesses that said they subscribed to a data plan. Roughly one-third said their wireless service included push-to-talk capabilities, 17 percent said they subscribed to international roaming access, 15 percent included wireless modem access via personal computers, and 5 percent accessed packet services using PC cards.
