Local and Regional Telephone Company-Owned ISPs
Outpace the Industry Average in Overall Customer Satisfaction
AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- MindSpring ranked highest in
overall customer satisfaction among the largest national Internet Service
Providers (ISPs), according to the J.D. Power and Associates 1999 National ISP
Online Residential Customer Satisfaction Study(SM) released today.
MindSpring's leading position is driven by above average scores on all seven
factors that determine overall customer satisfaction, including the two top
drivers, cost/billing/image and speed/availability. MindSpring also excels in
customer care/technical support, e-mail services and navigation/access to
other portals.
The top seven ISPs highlighted individually in the study account for well
over one-half of residential ISP subscriptions in the United States. The
remaining subscriptions comprise an extremely fragmented but growing group of
small national providers, regional and local telephone company and cable
company-owned ISPs.
Local and regional telephone company-owned ISPs account for a growing
number of residential ISP subscriptions. Collectively, these local and
regional ISPs perform well above the industry average in customer
satisfaction, with speed/availability as their greatest strength over other
ISPs.
Local and regional telephone company-owned ISPs currently account for a
7 percent share of the residential household ISP market, compared to 5 percent
in 1998. This growth promises to escalate as cost-efficient, high-speed
access services are offered to more consumers as an alternative to the much
slower dial-up services most households currently use.
"Some local and regional telco-owned ISP providers are developing their
own niche in an industry driven by a few strong national players," said Joan
Barten Kline, director of research and operations for the telecommunications
services group at J.D. Power and Associates. "By targeting their offering
toward the community -- including sponsorship of non-profit sites, local
community news, sporting and cultural event calendars -- these providers are
treating their Internet product as a value-added service for their existing
customer base."
On average, subscribers say they have used their ISP for just over two
years and report spending about 16 hours a week online. Surfing the World
Wide Web (69 percent) and sending/receiving e-mail (67 percent) top the list
of online activities engaged in most often.
Four out of five ISP subscribers say they have made at least one purchase
online, with 31 percent indicating they make at least one purchase per month.
More than one-half (56 percent) of online subscribers say they prefer a
particular search engine, browser or portal site to research purchases. When
asked to list their top preferences, Yahoo.com is cited most often
(66 percent), followed by Excite.com (38 percent).
Approximately 12 percent of Internet users indicate a strong intention to
switch ISPs in the next 12 months, and an additional 22 percent say they might
consider a switch at some point. MindSpring's customers are the least likely
to consider switching to another provider, according to the study.
Factors that Influence Switching Intent
The most critical factors that consumers say may cause them to switch are
connection speed (81 percent), followed by price (68 percent), ease of use
(57 percent) and e-mail service (51 percent). Less than one-half of
respondents mention customer service, technical support or content issues as
critical motivations behind switching intent.
With speed dominating the reasons for switching intent, high-speed service
will be an area of continued focus in the near future. Nearly 20 percent of
current subscribers to dial-up Internet services indicate a strong willingness
to subscribe to high-speed service either through a cable modem or a
high-speed service offered by their local telephone provider.
"The cable companies have yet to gain a serious foothold in the ISP
market," said Barten Kline. "In the meantime, local providers are putting
more resources toward rolling out digital subscriber line service to their
current customers, and the top ISPs are pursuing this as an enhancement to
current dial-up service. Being the gatekeeper to high-speed access will be
vital."
Market penetration and share results are derived from the 1998 and 1999
J.D. Power and Associates Residential Wireline studies. All other results are
from the 1999 Online Study of ISPs and reflect the responses of 3,489
households nationwide.
Headquartered in Agoura Hills, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a
global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors
including market research, forecasting and customer satisfaction. The firm's
quality and satisfaction measurements are based on actual customer responses
from more than one million consumers annually.
J.D. Power and Associates can be accessed through the World Wide Web at
http://www.jdpower.com. Media e-mail contact: peter.dresch@jdpower.com. This press
release is provided for editorial use only. No advertising or other
promotional use can be made of the information in this release or J.D. Power
and Associates survey results without the express prior written consent of
J.D. Power and Associates.
ISP Customer Satisfaction Index Weights
Cost/Billing/Image and Speed/Availability Have the Greatest
Impact on Overall Customer Satisfaction with ISPs in 1999
Ease of Use 5%
Navigation/Access to Other Portals 6%
E-Mail Services 6%
Customer Care/Technical Support 7%
Suitability of Services/Content 10%
Speed/Availability 29%
Cost/Billing/Image 37%
Charts and graphs extracted from this press release must be accompanied by
a statement identifying J.D. Power and Associates as the publisher and the
J.D. Power and Associates 1999 National ISP Online Residential Customer
Satisfaction Study(SM) as the source. No advertising or other promotional use
can be made of the information in this release or J.D. Power and Associates
survey results without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and
Associates.
Source: J.D. Power and Associates 1999 National ISP Online Residential
Customer Satisfaction Study(SM)
ISP Customer Satisfaction Index Scores
MindSpring Has a Significant Lead in Customer
Satisfaction over the Six Other National ISPs in 1999
MindSpring 118
Earthlink 110
AT&T WorldNet 107
Microsoft 103
Industry Average 100
Finishing below industry average in alphabetical order are: AOL,
Compuserve and Prodigy.
Source: J.D. Power and Associates 1999 National ISP Online Residential
Customer Satisfaction Study(SM)
Charts and graphs extracted from this press release must be accompanied by
a statement identifying J.D. Power and Associates as the publisher and the
J.D. Power and Associates 1999 National ISP Online Residential Customer
Satisfaction Study(SM) as the source. No advertising or other promotional use
can be made of the information in this release or J.D. Power and Associates
survey results without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and
Associates.
SOURCE J.D. Power and Associates
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Related links:
http://www.jdpower.com
CONTACT:
Joan Barten Kline or Peter Dresch of J.D.
Power and Associates, 203-221-1998
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