Survey: Increase in Customer Satisfaction with Residential Internet Service Providers

Bright House Networks' Road Runner; EarthLink; Verizon; and WOW! Each Rank Highest In Their Respective Regions

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: 28 October 2009 - Overall customer satisfaction with residential high-speed Internet service providers has increased from 2008, primarily due to improvements in performance and reliability, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Internet Service Provider Residential Customer Satisfaction StudySM released today.

Now in its 12th year, the study measures customer satisfaction with high-speed Internet service based on five factors: performance and reliability; cost of service; customer service; billing; and offerings and promotions.

The study finds that overall satisfaction with residential high-speed Internet service is 639 on a 1,000-point scale-an increase of 22 index points compared with 2008.

The study also finds that customer satisfaction with performance and reliability averages 687 in 2009-a 43-point increase from 644 in 2008. Contributing to this improvement are a decrease in the percentage of customers who report experiencing service outages, as well as improved customer perceptions of connection speed.

"In many instances a household's Internet connection acts as the backbone of its voice, video and information services, making the provider's ability to provide a fast, reliable connection particularly critical," said Frank Perazzini, director of telecommunications at J.D. Power and Associates. "As households become more dependent on services provided via the Internet, eliminating outages and providing consistent connection speeds will become necessities in Internet service providers' business models."

Among customers who bundle services from their Internet service provider, the most popular option is a combination of video and Internet services, which is selected by approximately one-third of customers who bundle their services. The percentage of customers who bundle voice, video and data services has increased from 16 percent in 2008 to 19 percent in 2009. In addition, the proportion of customers who indicate they "probably will" or "definitely will" bundle their Internet service with other voice or video services in the next year has increased to 52 percent in 2009 from 43 percent in 2008.

"Internet service may be considered the lynchpin of the bundled offering, serving to drive both customer loyalty and incremental sales opportunities," said Perazzini. "As competition for new customers increases among Internet service providers, retaining the existing customer base while promoting additional voice and video will continue to be critical."

High-speed Internet service providers are examined in four regions:

East Region: Verizon ranks highest with a score of 673 and performs particularly well in four of five factors: performance and reliability; cost of service; billing; and offerings and promotions. Optimum Online (Cablevision) follows in the regional rankings with a score of 666, while Cox ranks third with a score of 650.

South Region: With a score of 686, Bright House Networks' Road Runner service ranks highest in the South region and performs well in the cost of service; customer service; and billing factors. Insight Communications follows in the rankings with a score of 668 while EarthLink and Verizon rank third in the region, in a tie (666 each).

North Central Region: Performing particularly well in all five factors driving satisfaction, WOW! ranks highest in the region with a score of 723. Cincinnati Bell follows with 678, while Verizon ranks third with 676.

West Region: EarthLink ranks highest in the West region with a score of 653 and performs particularly well in the offerings and promotions factor. Following EarthLink in the regional rankings are Verizon (650) and Cox (647).

The study findings include the following key trends:

* The proportion of high-speed Internet service customers who indicate they are loyal to their provider has increased by two percentage points from 2008, to 32 percent in 2009. Additionally, 66 percent of customers state they "definitely will" or "probably will" recommend their provider to others in 2009-an increase of four percentage points, compared with 2008.

* Among customers who contacted their service provider to resolve a problem or question, average hold times have decreased by nearly 30 seconds in 2009, compared with 2008.

The 2009 Internet Service Provider Residential Customer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 23,997 residential customers of Internet service providers nationwide. The study was fielded in January, March and July 2009.

Source: J.D. Power and Associates