Increasing use of mobile data service is driving wireless network service issues, according to the latest network quality survey by J.D. Power. The report also crowned Verizon Wireless as the operator with the best overall network performance.
Since 2014, the occurrence of data-related errors has been steadily increasing, J.D. Power found. The firm divided the U.S. into six geographic regions and looked at 10 network issues for the study: dropped calls, lost calls, calls that don’t get connected, audio issues, failed or late voice mails, failed text messages, late text message notifications, slow downloads, Web connection errors and e-mail connection errors. Results were based on a survey of more than 27,000 wireless customers between July and December 2014.
The average number of issues with mobile Web connection, very slow mobile Web page loading, and e-mail connection errors increased from 14 problems per 100 network connections (J.D. Power’s unit of measure for the study) to 17 PP100. J.D. Power also reported an increase in texting from last year’s study, from an average of 42 text messages sent and received over a 48-hour period, to 48 text messages on average. Users also were on the mobile Web more often, with 16 mobile Web interactions over 48 hours compared to 14 in the spring survey.
“Smartphone users send a high volume of calls, text messages and e-mails, which strains carrier networks. As tablet ownership continues to rise, increased frequency of mobile video downloads further exacerbates network strain,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director and practice leader of telecommunications at J.D. Power. “Given the increase in network connection problems, carriers providing faster and more reliable connections may have a competitive advantage, particularly for cellular tablet owners, who have a high propensity to switch carriers in pursuit of quality connections.”
J.D. Power ranked Verizon Wireless as the operator with the best overall quality in voice calls, messaging and mobile data across the six geographic regions.
Among the survey’s findings:
- Wireless customers report the most data issues with mobile broadband devices such as PC cards or hot spots, at a rate of 27 problems per 100 connections, compared with fewer problems on smartphones (17 PP100) and tablets (16 PP100).
- E-mail connection errors happen slightly more frequently on tablets than on phones, at a rate of 7 PP100 compared to 6 PP100.
- Slow mobile Web connections were more likely to happen on phones, at a rate of 16 PP100, than on mobile broadband devices with 14 issues per 100 connections, or tablets with 12.
- Fourteen percent of customers reported having a tablet with a data plan from a wireless operator, and J.D. Power found some propensity to churn among tablet customers. “Although satisfaction among customers with cellular tablets is higher overall, 24 percent of those customers say they ‘definitely will’ or ‘probably will’ switch their carrier within the next year, compared with just 15% of customers without a cellular tablet,” J.D. Power reported.
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