JDPower and Associates has conducted the 2008 Wireless Call Quality Performance Study. "Alltel ranks highest in wireless call quality in two regions and ties with T-Mobile to rank highest in a third, while Verizon Wireless leads in two regions and U.S. Cellular ranks highest in one region." Said in a Press release from JDPower.com. Alltel has been a major player in the JDPower and Associates wireless studies for the past two years. This year Alltel leads call quality in more regions than Verizon. Alltel took the gold in Southeast and West Regions while they Tied with T- Mobile in the Southwest Region. Alltel led in these areas due to lower than average reporting of dropped calls, initial connections, voice distortion, and static/interference. Verizon takes the second place spot leading in both the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions for lower than average reporting of dropped calls, initial connection and distortion. The study concluded that traditionally service providers using CDMA digital technology rank better in this study. This is largely due to the fact that CDMA digital service is better at processing the necessary information. CDMA digital is an advantage, but does not guarrantee better call quality, all the components still require expert network management.
"The study also finds that wireless customers who use third-generation (3G) enabled mobile devices that support higher data speeds experience fewer problems than customers who do not use 3G devices. " JDPower Sites that these problems reduce by an average of 12%. Holding up the poor end of the survey is Sprint Nextel and At&t.
Both companies share the same number of last place finishes through the survey. Sprint Nextel finished last in the Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest. At&t finished last in the Mid-Atlantic, North Central, and West Regions. Sprint Nextel however has been showing an effort compared to last years survey claiming the Number two position in the Mid-Atlantic Region ranking 1 point below the Mid-Atlantic Average.
This study was based on responses from 24,570 wireless users conducted September-October 2007, and January 2008.
