Switching Carriers

In our survey of cell-phone users, Verizon emerged from the pack in nearly every category in the 20 metropolitan areas surveyed, and this is as it has been for past surveys conducted. New kid on the block Alltel, a relatively small carrier that primarily serves the midsection of the country, is shortening the distance between them and Verizon every day and is emerging to be a serious contender for the title of best cell phone service provider. T-Mobile is also battling Verizon fiercely for the title and your shekels, having improved performance of their network in many areas.

All this choice in carriers and competition between rivals for your continued business means the average person has a decent choice in their area of the country. A good sign in an industry that has shown average, lackluster, performance that should benefit from some real completion.

The survey we conducted covered several important issues to cell phone users today including call quality, handling of inquiries and complaints, and billing problems.

According to the results, the major carriers in the 20 cities polled generally ended up at the bottom of the service satisfaction poll. These included Cingular and Sprint, Nextel, a frequent bottom dweller in earlier surveys, merged with Sprint in 2005. We will talk about a few of our other findings a little later, first we want to give you the facts on the network choices available for cell phone users today.

Your phone network choices

Wireless – also known by the terms cellular or mobile. This network uses a series of radio towers to connect your call to the wired network. Advantages Mobility offers many extra services, including text and picture messaging, music streaming, games, e-mail access, and TV snippets, depending on your service carrier and your cell phone’s inherent capabilities of course. Disadvantages Wireless only works in areas that have coverage, towers, and incompatible network technologies among service providers create “dead zones” where your service will be unavailable. If the electrical power in the area your in has a local black out your service might not work, if the power outage is widespread your service will definitely not work. The ability for 911 location isn’t completely implemented yet. Voice quality isn’t as good as you will usually get with a wired network, but then you don’t have all those wires to worry about.

Wired – also known as a landline, and much more familiar to us experienced, mature, phone users, this familiar phone-line system uses cables running under or above the ground. Advantages You get the best sound quality of all the phone networks. No dropped calls, fewer problems making and keeping a connection than with a wireless system. Certainly the most reliable of the three systems and the one most likely to work when the power goes out and you need to stay in touch. A well-established 911 service provides a voice connection and reports your location to emergency crews when your not able to. Runs on a single, unified system, that connects all the wired phones in the country together. Disadvantages The wires can be damaged intentionally or by acts of nature, disrupting your service until repair crews are able to fix the damaged network. Additional add-on features, taxes, and fees can boost your bill substantially, so if your money-conscious shop around. Even cordless phones on the market today are only portable within a certain limited range.

Internet – also known as Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP for those preferring easier to remember. Your digital telephone hooks up to the Internet using a broadband connection. Advantages VoIP is relatively inexpensive, especially if you make a lot of long distance calls in your normal everyday usage. Some services, such as caller ID and call waiting, may be free of charge. One good thing is you can use your phone anywhere a broadband Internet connection exists. Disadvantages Unfortunately the Internet will probably not work during a power outage, but it can depend on the individual circumstances at the time of the power black-out. The voice and sound quality on your Internet network may not be as good as a wired network, but this is improving constantly. Providers are required to forward 911 calls to the proper operators, along with your location if you call, but how well a middle-man system works for emergency situations is a matter for discussion and depends on several factors.

The other findings of our survey of cell users thoughts about their cell phone service carriers is listed below.

Cell service still leaves a lot to be desired. As a group, cellular carriers scored only 66 on a scale of 0 to 100 for overall satisfaction. This is worse than many of the other services we cover in our surveys, and in a league with other perennial low-achievers, such as cable TV and computer tech support.

Call quality remains an aggravation for many cell-phone users. In fact, 54 percent of the readers 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.

Most consumers aren’t ready to give up their landlines for space-age promises and go completely wireless all the time, but as the technology improves over the years this will certainly happen. In our survey only 5 percent of respondents indicated they currently have a cell phone but no landline at home.

Well that’s it for this time, join us next hub as we will talk about what to do if your ready to switch your cell service. Well compare the various wireless carriers for you and give you all the facts we’ve collected on changing your cell phone service provider.

Until next time Seeker, happy seeking!

~ by warrenhayashi on October 16, 2007.