The results of Consumer Reports? cell phone survey are in and Verizon Wireless topped the rankings in most of the 20 metropolitan areas surveyed. Following a trend found in other industry surveys, T-Mobile continues to be a strong competitor for Verizon Wireless in customer satisfaction. Interestingly, Alltel also scored well, which is encouraging to see for consumers who want more alternatives than the four largest wireless carriers (Cingular, Sprint/Nextel, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless).

Consumer Reports also strongly disputes the Cingular ads that claim their network has the least dropped calls of any carrier. The survey's findings also echo other industry surveys that show that wireless service overall scores low on customer satisfaction rankings versus other services. Consumer Reports? survey found that cellular carriers scored only 66 on a scale of 0 to 100 for overall satisfaction, which puts it on par with other perennial low-scorers such as cable TV and computer tech support. Call quality continues to be the most important determining factor in the decision to leave a carrier, noted the report. 54 percent of survey respondents who switched carriers during the past three years attributed their decision to poor phone service, including dropped calls and no service at home.

By contrast, 33 percent were motivated to switch by the promise of a better price. To read more about this survey, click here. Consumers who are considering switching their wireless service or starting up a new line of service should be sure to pick up the January 2007 issue of Consumer Reports which includes detailed rankings of wireless service providers in each of the 20 metropolitan areas surveyed.

Source: Telecommunications Research and Action Center. http://www.trac.org