WIRELESS WATCH
Consumer Satisfaction With Wireless Service Continues to Decline - Overall customer satisfaction with wireless telephone service has decreased by 10% over the past year, according to a new market survey released this week. The study, by respected market research firm J.D. Power and Associates, showed the biggest year-on-year decrease in customer satisfaction in ten years, due to industry mergers, regulatory changes, and the rush to add new subscribers at the expense of existing ones. This continues a general downward trend in customer satisfaction over the past decade, noted the survey. Study respondents cited call performance and reliability and customer service as their top concerns. Surprisingly, billing and cost of service were the least important factors impacting customer satisfaction, which suggests that customers are less concerned with the price they are paying for service than the perceived value they receive from their service. The survey also found a 5% increase in the number of wireless consumers planning to switch carriers in the next twelve months. Among the seven national carriers surveyed, T-Mobile and Verizon Mobile continued to score highly in overall customer satisfaction. The two carriers tied for top honors in the Northeast, Mid Atlantic, and West regions. T-Mobile was alone at the top in the Southeast and Southwest regions. T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and U.S. Cellular tied in the North Central region. This survey is not the first time that wireless consumers have put customer service above price for their wireless service. Wireless carriers would be well advised to keep this in mind as the wireless industry becomes increasingly saturated. For more information on the J.D. Power survey, click here.
Wireless Industry Looks to Help Hurricane Victims - Despite continued major outages for most wireless consumers in the Gulf Coast region, wireless carriers are making efforts to ease the suffering of their customers. After reports of service disconnection and subsequent Congressional pressure, industry executives have pledged to extend billing grace periods for customers in the affected areas. Additionally, CTIA, the wireless industry association, this week unveiled a text messaging campaign to raise funds for hurricane relief. Wireless phone users can send a text message to “2HELP” (24357) containing the message “HELP” and a tax-deductible donation will be made to relief efforts. Donations will appear on customers’ monthly bills or be debited from prepaid account balances. The Text 2HELP campaign will continue through October 31, 2005. Alltel, Boost Mobile, Cingular, Cricket Communications, Dobson Communications, Sprint and Verizon Wireless are among the wireless carriers supporting the Text 2HELP campaign for American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. For more information on the Text 2HELP campaign, click here. Additionally, Goldpocket Interactive and DIRECTV have set up a special service for wireless users to contact evacuees in the Gulf Coast area via the Hurricane Katrina Information channel. Consumers can send text messages to family and friends separated by the hurricane and its aftermath – messages are scrolled across the bottom of the television screen on DIRECTV channel 100. To place a message on this channel for family and friends, viewers can send an e-mail message to katrina@directv.com or send a text message via their cellular phone directly to text code “48433.” For more information, click here.
TRAC AND YOU
ICE Campaign Helping Wireless Users in Emergencies - According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 900,000 emergency room patients could not provide contact information because they were incapacitated in 2003. Recently, a word-of-mouth campaign begun by a British paramedic has begun to gain steam in the U.S. Wireless users are being urged to add an entry to their wireless phonebooks labeled “ICE.” The acronym, which stands for “In Case of Emergency,” should be used for an entry containing emergency contact numbers. In the event of an emergency where you are incapacitated and unable to communicate to medical personnel, they will be able to check your wireless phone for an “ICE” entry and notify friends or family members of the situation. Without this entry, emergency workers would have a much more difficult time knowing which of the contacts in your wireless phonebook should be contacted. This is an especially important consideration for parents who give a cell phone to their young children. Parents may wish to consider putting an entry labeled “ICE – Dad” or “ICE – Mom” in their children’s cellular phones. For more information on the ICE campaign, click here
. INTERESTING LINKS
FCC Main Page: http://www.fcc.gov
FCC Complaint Form - http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm
List of State Regulatory Commissions: http://www.naruc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=15
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