J.D. Power and Associates released Volume 2 of their biannual Cellular Call Quality Survey Thursday and it appears as if “Can you hear me now?” is a phrase not uttered by many Verizon Wireless customers. In every region of the country surveyed, Verizon was either the sole winner or tied for first place. The survey asked 22,000 customers from across the nation to rank their cellular provider based upon the frequency of dropped calls, static/interference, failed connection on the first try, voice distortion, echo, no immediate voice mail notification, and no immediate text message notification. Let’s take a quick look at how each region fared:
- Northeast Region: Verizon Wireless ranks highest in the region.
- Mid-Atlantic Region: Verizon Wireless ranks highest for an eighth consecutive time.
- Southeast Region: Alltel ranks highest in the region. Verizon wins this one by proxy since they are in the process of acquiring Alltel.
- North Central Region: U.S. Cellular and Alltel rank highest in a tie. Another win for Verizon through its Alltel merger.
- Southwest Region: Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless tie to rank highest in the region.
- West Region: Verizon Wireless ranks highest in the region.
Surprisingly, AT&T, the largest scammers US provider, does not show up anywhere in the leader board; not so surprisingly, neither does T-Mobile. We wonder, though, if these results will help or hurt Verizon as it seeks regulatory approval for its merger with Alltel. By scooping up Alltel, it really will become the nation’s largest network, both in sheer number of customers and in coverage. Psst, Verizon, some words of advice? You may want to sweep these results under the carpet and only boast about them after that merger of yours is approved. We’re just sayin’…
