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Cable Beating Telcos At Phone Service
Now if they can just get that offering cable thing down...

For the first time ever, cable providers lead traditional phone providers when it comes to customer satisfaction with voice service in all six U.S. regions, according to the latest study by JD Power & Associates -- this despite their traditionally dismal showing when it comes to consumer satisfaction with cable television.

"Customers increasingly want multiple services and products bundled into one convenient package under a single provider, and cable companies are doing a great job of achieving this with their voice, data and video packages," says JD Power's Steve Kirkeby. The top winners by region:

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quote:
Northeast Region: Cox Communications ranks highest in the region for a second consecutive year, receiving the highest ratings from customers in performance and reliability, billing, image and customer service.

Mid-Atlantic Region: Included in the study for the first time in 2007, Cablevision ranks highest, performing particularly well in all six factors of overall satisfaction.

Southeast Region: Bright House Networks ranks highest in the region for a second consecutive year, performing particularly well in customer service, billing, image, cost of service and offerings and promotions.

North Central Region: Included in the study for the first time in 2007, WideOpenWest (WOW!) leads the region, receiving highest ratings from customers in all six factors of overall satisfaction.

Southwest Region: Cox Communications ranks highest for a second consecutive year, receiving particularly high ratings in all factors of overall satisfaction.

West Region: For a fifth consecutive year, Cox Communications ranks highest in the region, performing particularly well in billing, image and performance and reliability.


Cox in particular came out smiling after getting top honors in three regions. The company, which serves 2.1 million residential voice customers, also ranked very highly (at least when it comes to voice service) in the most recent ACSI index.
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cbrain (banned)
join:2000-05-21
Silver Spring, MD

cbrain (banned)

Member

I didn't see Comcast

Are they still the biggest cable provider? Do they offer phone service?

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

2 edits

Karl Bode

News Guy

Re: I didn't see Comcast

Yes, yes, and Clicking on the link shows you their complete breakdown:

»www.jdpower.com/corporat ··· =2007108

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: I didn't see Comcast

Comcast was at the bottom... not surprising. I dealt with their C.S. a couple of times, when attempting to get service, and decided to go DirecTv.
viperlmw
Premium Member
join:2005-01-25

viperlmw to Karl Bode

Premium Member

to Karl Bode
The local news said that Comcast phones went down last night in Spokane. Does anyone know if they are back up yet, and how long they were down? Caff?

inteller
Sociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK

inteller

Member

Cox wins because telephone is simple.

Their implementation is pretty straight forward. They don't have any legacy systems to maintain. As a result, they have an overall smoother operation which translates all the way down to the user.

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

cdru

MVM

Re: Cox wins because telephone is simple.

I think your point is indicitive of many new technologies. They rank high because people like the wizz-bang features and can live with maybe a few hiccups. Cable companies score high with telephone service, but lower with their long offered television service. Flip it around and Verizon gets low scores for phone, but rave reviews with television. With both cable and telcos offering new technologies, they have had quite an advantage of looking at what the established players have done, capitalized on what worked and didn't work, and put out a decent product that people like.

SquareSlinky
Premium Member
join:2004-05-25
Tampa, FL

SquareSlinky to inteller

Premium Member

to inteller
Do Cable companies offer a back up solution if power is lost?
Probably not. So many people are switching, and others are complaining that Verizon snips the copper from the houses. Doesn't this contradict the need to keep the copper?
raptor1418
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
Denver, CO

raptor1418

Premium Member

Not Hard To Beat

With Telcos just riding along doing business the same way they have been doing business for the last 40 years it sure isn't hard to beat that type of service with something that could be just slightly better.

The fact that I get my Cell phone service (which is portable) with more features than a Land Line from a Telco for just slightly more says a lot for how bad Telco phone service is and they should start thinking about the future of their business model instead of just doing their norm. Hell even my VoIP service I had did better in price and service features than the Telco I had at one point.
dak70
join:2007-05-01
Warminster, PA

dak70

Member

Cable beating Telcos...No surprise

The telcos have been focusing almost all of their resources on providing video and data. Phone service is now seen as just an add on to make a triple play.
Telcos have laid off thousands of PSTN employees and choked off almost all funding for PSTN upgrades. One teleco VP is quoted as saying "do more with nothing".
The lack of head count, funding, and commitment to providing plain old telephone service is now manifested in crumbling Customer satisfaction.
What the telcos fail to realise is if they can not even provide good service with their core product why would anyone want their video or data.
-DAK

Slidetbone
Mazin Go
Premium Member
join:2002-11-10
Land O Lakes, FL

Slidetbone

Premium Member

Re: Cable beating Telcos...No surprise

Really? I see you have Verizon Fios...Telco branded service with data and video options available...


xerxes3642
join:2006-02-24
Saint Charles, MO

1 recommendation

xerxes3642

Member

All this innovation

all the while working under old "city by city" franchise agreements...hmmmmmmm
nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD

nasadude

Member

Re: All this innovation

i didn't think the cablecos were getting franchise agreements to provide phone service - they are either ignoring this if it's a requirement or it's covered under their existing cable franchise.
HyPeRbAnD
join:2006-01-07
Stow, MA

HyPeRbAnD

Member

Telco's should have been rebuilding 15yrs ago.

If they had started rebuilding( deploying fiber deeper) and planning for video/HSD and telephone on their network back then, they would be in a better position today.

We deployed our first FTTC system in 1990 with the anticipation for launching phone and HSD along with digital video. Phone should have done the same thing..

S_engineer
Premium Member
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL

S_engineer

Premium Member

Re: Telco's should have been rebuilding 15yrs ago.

15 years ago, they were too busy getting rid of the start ups and were busy consolidating!

ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium Member
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA

ColorBASIC

Premium Member

Another case of "we suck less"

It's not surprising given telco's ever increasing rates and gouging for services like the $1.50 "How dare you not want to be in the phonebook" fee.

Mactron
el Camino Real
Premium Member
join:2001-12-16
PRK

Mactron

Premium Member

Re: Another case of "we suck less"

said by ColorBASIC:

"How dare you not want to be in the phonebook" fee.
The "How dare you not use our LD fee" as well. It goes on and on.

The Telcos are in such a hurry (Finally) to catch up technology wise they've thrown their core business out with the bath water. They cry on and on about how everyone is dumping their land lines and have done nothing to increase it's usefulness in features. Copper is a fixed cost and will be for some time. They could have added features and value to it rather inexpensively compared the already fixed copper costs and dramatically slowed the bleed. Unfortunately they decided to bleed the few remaining land line customers with these ever increasing stupid fees. Which in turn just sends more of todays land line customers to the competion.

My 2 cents, YMMV

ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium Member
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA

ColorBASIC

Premium Member

Re: Another case of "we suck less"

If telcos want to improve their reputation they should start by dropping instead of CONSTANTLY raising prices through these stupid junk fees.
bogey7806
join:2004-03-19
Here

bogey7806 to ColorBASIC

Member

to ColorBASIC
A lot of the people switching to cable co telephone are dissatisfied former telco customers. So they have a little edge in terms of that. A lot of people with telco as their phone providers don't have a gradient with which to compare service.

RARPSL
join:1999-12-08
Suffern, NY

RARPSL to ColorBASIC

Member

to ColorBASIC
said by ColorBASIC:

It's not surprising given telco's ever increasing rates and gouging for services like the $1.50 "How dare you not want to be in the phonebook" fee.
While I may not agree with the fee, I can see a justification for it. If you are listed in the phone book (or can be looked up on the net since the "Dead Trees" edition is becoming a thing of the past) then there is a lessened need to call an operator to do the lookup for you - Thus you charge the "unpublished" (available from an operator but not in the book) subscriber a fee for the extra needed support. There is also a need for a fee for "unlisted" numbers since even the operator can not supply them and thus the need to handle the "what is the number" calls is still there just like "unpublished" ones.

ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium Member
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA

1 edit

ColorBASIC

Premium Member

Re: Another case of "we suck less"

Huh? Telcos like Verizon CHARGE callers for 4-1-1 calls whether they're local or national directory assistence.

They charge the "how dare you not want to be in the phonebook" fee just because it's something people want and they can get away with charging the fee.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Rating charts misleading

The service ratings charts don't show how little difference there really is between the different providers. The way JD Power displays the results is designed to highlight the differences and make it appear that 1 is way better than the others. In reality, on their 0-1000 point scale, all the providers are very close together and none of them are really providing anything better than mediocre service.

Here is how JD Power displays the N.E. region:


And here is how it should be displayed to show how close all the providers really are:

raptor1418
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
Denver, CO

1 recommendation

raptor1418

Premium Member

Re: Rating charts misleading

Great charting work as it highlighted my point that something slightly better would put one over the other. I just didn't think of recharting it to show that.
bmn
? ? ?

join:2001-03-15
hiatus

bmn to FFH5

to FFH5
You would be better off using a normal line chart instead of a 3D chart... The depth added to the line also distorts the relationship between the providers' scores, making them appear closer than they are.

But good move. You are right, JD Power's graph does exaggerate the differences.
Ahrenl
join:2004-10-26
North Andover, MA

Ahrenl to FFH5

Member

to FFH5
Ehh, your new chart is equally (in the inverse) as biased because of the perspective you chose. If you just think of it as a %, there's a pretty significant difference between 54.1% and 71.4%. That's a 32% greater customer satisfaction rating. I'd say that's pretty signficant.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: Rating charts misleading

said by Ahrenl:

Ehh, your new chart is equally (in the inverse) as biased because of the perspective you chose. If you just think of it as a %, there's a pretty significant difference between 54.1% and 71.4%. That's a 32% greater customer satisfaction rating. I'd say that's pretty signficant.
The lower # was 64.1% and not 54.1%.

So the the difference between 64.1% and 71.4% is only an 11% difference. Hardly significant.
33591094 (banned)
join:2002-11-19
Canada

33591094 (banned)

Member

Cable vs Telco in Canada

In my neck of the woods, cable (Eastlink) beats the hell out of the telco (sympatico). It's no contest really...

I get a great deal by bundling a 10MB connection with telephone. I believe in my case it was close to 15% savings, and I get more phone features through the cable company.

Eastlink rocks...

Titus
Mr Gradenko
join:2004-06-26

1 recommendation

Titus

Member

A lot of people

are headed for a sad realization.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK

Premium Member

Re: A lot of people

LOL

jsimmons
MVM
join:2000-04-24
Falls Church, VA

1 edit

jsimmons

MVM

Cox has earned its marks - in Northern VA

Media General owned the franshise in NoVA before Cox purchased it. I had abandoned MG because of its poor service, low quality TV picture (analog no less), and RoadRunner wasn't exactly top notch for Internet service.

After Cox bought MG and committed to upgrade the infrastructure, it was a rocky road for a while. But I had switched to Satellite for TV and DSL for internet.

Today Cox has a top notch operation and infrastructure in NoVA. I have had their Phone and HSI services, paying a LOT less than my old DSL and Verizon phone service - and getting much more for that lower price. Technical problems have been minimal, the service rock solid and high quality, and... in the case where a network change resulted in loss of HSI at my address, a call to support netted a truck roll and problem solved within 6 hours. Not too shabby.

I'm now debating abandoning Satellite and adding Cox Cable TV back to my service... the triple play. Its looking better every day.

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

djrobx

Premium Member

I love my TW phone service...

So, it doesn't surprise me that customer satisfaction ratings are high.

It finally gives me a decent value for how I use the phone. I was really getting sick and tired of paying over $35 per month for the telephone when I really didn't use it that often.

After factoring in multi-service discount, for $25/month, I get:

Unlimited calls in California. I make lots of short calls to places that aren't too far from here but not in my neighborhood. With SBC/AT&T virtually all of them were "Local toll" or ZUM calls so I got dinged for almost every call.

Calling features!  Finally, I don't have to pay an excessive fee just for caller ID, call waiting, and call waiting ID. Again I don't use the phone that often but I sure want to know who's calling before I pick up the handset! And unlike with AT&T/SBC, the taxes and fees are "reasonable" and not an absurdly high percentage of the bill.

It'd be great if I was in an area where I could do away with the landline altogether (the way cellular minutes are billed works much more in my favor) but with a marginal signal this works out well for me.

I've never had a single problem with TW's digital phone. Not a pop or scratch in the audio. I'm pretty picky about quality and this "just works". And it's using bandwidth outside my cable cap. I can pound the connection as hard as I want without messing with QoS settings on my router and the voice continues to work perfectly.

I realize I could get better pricing by going with a VOIP provider like Vonage or SunRocket, but I prefer TW's solution. It doesn't rely on the public internet. I also have more confidence in TW's staying power. Vonage's price is better if I were making calls outside of California, but I rarely do that. If I do, I just walk out to where I have a cell singal and use my cell for that.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: I love my TW phone service...

Currently for me (with exception of taxes/fees), I don't pay a whole lot differently for POTS than I would for TW VoIP.

I have unlimited US (although 90% of the calls are local, 10% are Canada). Its $45/month on AT&T
Multi-service discounts on TW might make it worthwhile.

kyler13
Is your fiber grounded?
join:2006-12-12
Annapolis, MD

kyler13

Member

Cable beating Telcos, depending on where exactly you live

That's a fair statement if the telco and cableco's shared the same regions in totality. MD is pretty much all Comcast and according to this study, the telcos are actually beating cable in MD. Cablevision wins the mid-atlantic region, but as far as I can tell, they're only in NJ (or 1 of the 6 states that comprise the mid-atlantic region).

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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK

Premium Member

LOL -- Cable service may be bad, but Telco is worse

Heh, all this proves is that cable companies have found an industry that actually has worse customer service then they do... The Phone companies

jack b
Gone Fishing
MVM
join:2000-09-08
Cape Cod

jack b

MVM

After they finish with Vonage,

Verizon is gonna bring their patent lawyers and pay a visit with the CableCos.

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

DUH

Verizon has to serve anyone and everyone. Now if you take only FIOS voice users Verizon would be number one.

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