Customer satisfaction with wireless service providers and phone manufacturers in Canada has decreased considerably since 2006, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Canadian Wireless Customer Satisfaction Study released today.

Now in its third year, the study examines perceptions of wireless customers with their service, mobile phone and retail experience. Rankings are provided for contract service and prepaid service providers as well as for mobile phone providers. Five factors are measured to determine customer satisfaction with contract service and prepaid service: call quality, billing, service plan options, cost of service and customer service. Mobile phone satisfaction is measured based on customer ratings of five factors: features, physical design, durability, battery and operation.

Overall customer satisfaction with contract service this year declines by 18 points, from an average of 675 on a 1,000-point scale in 2006 to 657 in 2007. In the prepaid service segment, overall customer satisfaction in 2007 averages 652, down from 666 in 2006, while overall satisfaction with mobile phones declines from an average of 714 in 2006 to 702 in 2007.

Contract Service Segment

For the first time since the inception of the study, national provider Fido ranks highest in customer satisfaction among contract service providers with an overall index score of 700. Fido performs particularly well in service plan options and cost of service.  SaskTel and Aliant follow Fido in the rankings, achieving scores of 696 and 681, respectively. SaskTel performs well in the remaining factors that contribute to satisfaction in the contract service segment: call quality, billing, and customer service.

The study finds that resolution of problems in a timely manner gives wireless service providers an opportunity to improve on customer satisfaction. Among customers who say they contacted their provider to report a problem, those who report their issue was resolved in a timely manner provide overall satisfaction scores that are 171 points higher, on average, than do customers who say that their issues were not resolved in a reasonable time. In addition, scores of customers whose issues were resolved in a timely manner are also higher, on average, than those of customers who didn’t contact their provider to report a problem. In other words, customers respond very positively to their wireless providers, even if they experience problems, as long as their issue is given immediate attention.

Prepaid Service Segment

Virgin Mobile (732) ranks highest among prepaid service providers for a third consecutive year, performing particularly well in service plan options, billing, call quality, and customer service. Following Virgin Mobile in the ranking are Telus Mobility (690) and PC Mobile (682), respectively. PC Mobile performs particularly well in the cost of service factor.

The study finds that the average monthly fee paid by contract customers is $67, compared with $25 for prepaid customers, which is primarily due to the fact that prepaid customers make considerably fewer calls per month (29, on average) compared with contract customers (who average 81 calls per month).

Mobile Phones Satisfaction

Sony Ericsson ranks highest among mobile phone brands with a score of 728, performing particularly well in features, physical design, battery, and operation. Sony Ericsson is followed in the rankings by BlackBerry (721) and Sanyo (713). BlackBerry performs well in the operation factor, while Sanyo performs particularly well in durability.

“The challenge for mobile phone manufacturers in 2007 has been a slowdown in the introduction of new features and concepts,” said Schade. “For example, in 2006, the innovative designs of the Motorola Razr with super-slim design and the LG Chocolate were perceived by customers as being particularly new and exciting. With features such as cameras and MP3 players becoming mainstream, there have been very few novel breakthrough technologies in 2007 that managed to impress customers.”

The 2007 Canadian Wireless Customer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from nearly 6,000 mobile phone users. Respondents were surveyed in September 2007.