Survey marks AT&T as worst for dropped calls
updated 05:15 pm EDT, Wed May 5, 2010
Verizon tops list for stable connections
In spite of ongoing network upgrades, dropped calls are only getting worse on AT&T's cellular network, a study by ChangeWave claims. Having polled 4,040 North Americans in March, the research group says that an average of 4.5 percent of calls made within the previous 90 days were dropped. The figure is noted to be AT&T's worst ever in terms of ChangeWave results.
Drops have been steadily increasing for the carrier since March of 2009, when the average was 3.3 percent. Customer satisfaction is accordingly low, with just 23 percent saying this March that they were "very satisfied" with AT&T service. The cause of drops is not identified in the survey, but is likely associated with the sheer demand of iPhone traffic, which can overload celltowers in areas like New York City and San Francisco.
By contrast, Verizon has recorded the lowest number of drops in its history, scoring an average of 1.5 percent. It also has the highest satisfaction rating of any national carrier, with 49 percent of subscribers saying they were very satisfied. The carrier is followed by Sprint at 35 percent satisfaction, and a 2.4 percent drop average. T-Mobile is on par with AT&T for satisfaction, but better in terms of drops, showing only 2.8 percent.
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Joined: May 2010
Figures Lie
Unfortunately, there is no information on how or where this data was collected. It is well known that AT&T has horrible problems in NYC and the SF Bay areas. In other areas, such as Los Angeles, coverage is excellent. What percentages of respondents were in SF, NYC, and LA? Nothing is listed.
I have no doubt that the number of dropped calls in some areas is horrible. But to not break this down to results by area gives a false impression. Figures do lie.