WOW! Ranks Highest Among High-Speed Internet Providers; PeoplePC Ranks
Highest Among Dial-Up Providers
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- As the cost of
high-speed Internet service declines and connection speeds become more
important, high-speed service overtakes dial-up in market share for the
first time, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Internet
Service Provider (ISP) Residential Customer Satisfaction Study(SM) released
today.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050527/LAF028LOGO-a )
The study finds that 56 percent of residential ISP customers subscribe
to high-speed Internet service-an increase of 11 percentage points from
2005. Correspondingly, market share of dial-up service has dropped from 55
percent in 2005 to 44 percent in 2006. This trend is expected to continue,
as the intent to switch service providers among dial-up customers has
increased by 3 percentage points from 2005 to 21 percent in 2006, while
switching intent among high-speed customers has essentially remained flat
since 2003 at 11 percent.
The average amount subscribers report spending per month for high-speed
Internet service has steadily decreased since 2004 -- down by $1.99 to
$42.13 in 2006. During the same time period, the average amount dial-up
service subscribers report spending has also declined; however, the drop is
less significant -- falling $0.69 from 2004 to $18.45 per month in 2006.
"Although high-speed Internet service is still considerably more
expensive than dial-up, bundling high-speed with other products, such as
telephone and video service, has made it an increasingly attractive option
for many customers," said Steve Kirkeby, executive director of
telecommunications and technology research at J.D. Power and Associates.
"This is not to say that dial-up services are completely out of the
picture, as dial-up still holds a significant portion of the market. More
specifically, customers are often willing to pay more for faster Internet
speeds, provided they are getting other services for less. Our research
shows that customers are increasingly expecting offerings and incentives
that recognize their loyalty, and high-speed Internet is a critical piece
of the most attractive bundled offers."
The study, now in its ninth year, measures customer satisfaction with
high-speed and dial-up Internet service providers based on seven factors.
They are: performance and reliability; cost of service; image; customer
service/technical support; billing; e-mail services; and offerings and
promotions.
Included in the study for the first time, WideOpenWest! (WOW!) ranks
highest in satisfying high-speed Internet customers. WOW! receives the
highest ratings from customers in performance and reliability, image,
customer service, billing, cost of service and offerings and promotions.
Bright House Network's Road Runner follows WOW! in the rankings and
performs well in the billing, performance and reliability, and image
factors. BellSouth ranks third in the segment.
Across all providers, the study finds that DSL subscribers are
significantly more satisfied than their counterparts who use cable modems
to access the Internet. Aggressive pricing by traditional telephone
companies has led to cost of service being the largest gap in satisfaction
between DSL and cable subscribers. Despite the discrepancy in overall
satisfaction scores, cable modem penetration continues to climb, with 32
percent of all households subscribing to Internet service-up from 28
percent in 2005. DSL subscriptions are up as well, climbing from 16 percent
of the market in 2005 to 23 percent in 2006.
PeoplePC, a California based national provider of dial-up Internet
service, also makes its debut in the study, and ranks highest among
providers in the dial-up Internet service segment. PeoplePC receives the
highest ratings from customers in four factors: cost of service, billing,
e-mail services, and offerings and promotions. BellSouth follows PeoplePC
in the segment rankings and performs particularly well in customer service.
EarthLink ranks third in the segment.
The study also finds several other key Internet usage patterns:
* Seventy-eight percent of households subscribe to an ISP-up 9 percentage
points from 2005
* High-speed subscribers spend an average of 22.6 personal hours per week
on the Internet
* Dial-up subscribers average 22.2 personal hours per week online-up
3 percent from 2005
* Data transfer speed is particularly important to both high speed and
dial-up subscribers.
Customer Satisfaction Index Scores
High-Speed Providers
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)
WOW! 765
Bright House Networks Road Runner 735
BellSouth 727
EarthLink 718
Verizon 716
Cox 711
Qwest 707
Frontier 704
CenturyTel 701
Time Warner Cable Road Runner 697
Cablevision 694
High-Speed Segment Average 693
AT&T Yahoo! 690
Embarq 680
Windstream 670
Insight 659
Charter 648
Comcast 647
Mediacom 633
RCN 628
Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are:
Armstrong Cable, Cable One, Cincinnati Bell, CompuServe, Directway,
Knology, Midcontinent Communications (MidcoNet), TDS, Valor and Walmart
Connection (Netscape Connect).
NOTE: Because Adelphia was acquired by Comcast and Time Warner Cable
while the study was being fielded, Adelphia is included in the high-speed
average, but not in the official rankings.
Customer Satisfaction Index Scores
Dial-Up Providers
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)
PeoplePC 741
BellSouth 717
EarthLink 713
MSN 708
Netscape 703
Dial-Up Segment Average 696
United Online 694
AOL 671
AT&T Yahoo! 666
Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are:
ALLTEL, CenturyTel, Cincinnati Bell, CompuServe, Frontier, Qwest, RCN,
Sprint, TDS, Verizon and Walmart Connect (Netscape Connect).
The 2006 ISP Residential Customer Satisfaction Study is based on
responses from 10,787 residential customers of Internet service providers
nationwide.
About J.D. Power and Associates
Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is
an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating
in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, consulting,
training and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and satisfaction
measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually.
J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
About The McGraw-Hill Companies
Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global
information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial
services, education and business information markets through leading brands
such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D.
Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 290 offices in 38
countries. Sales in 2005 were $6.0 billion. Additional information is
available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.
Media Relations Contacts:
John Tews Syvetril Perryman
J.D. Power and Associates J.D. Power and Associates
Troy, Mich. Westlake Village, Calif.
(248) 312-4119 (805) 418-8103
john.tews@jdpa.com syvetril.perryman@jdpa.com
Kim Milman
JMPR Public Relations
Woodland Hills, Calif.
(818) 992-4353/cell: 818-618-7163
kmilman@jmprpublicrelations.com
No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information
in this release without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and
Associates. http://www.jdpower.com/corporate
Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click
appropriate link.
Frank Perazzini
http://www.profnet.com/ud_public.jsp?userid=10035125
Steve Kirkeby
http://www.profnet.com/ud_public.jsp?userid=10035126
SOURCE J.D. Power and Associates
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Related links:
http://www.jdpower.com
http://www.jdpower.com/corporate
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CONTACT:
John Tews, +1-248-312-4119,
john.tews@jdpa.com, or Syvetril Perryman, +1-805-418-8103,
syvetril.perryman@jdpa.com, both of J.D. Power and Associates; or
Kim Milman of JMPR Public Relations, +1-818-992-4353, or cell,
+1-818-618-7163, kmilman@jmprpublicrelations.com, for J.D. Power
and Associates
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