AT&T was ranked as the worst cell-phone service carrier in the U.S., according to a new Consumer Reports survey. AT&T said it is taking the survey seriously.
A
Consumer Reports survey released Dec. 6 named AT&T "the
worst-rated cell-phone service carrier," based on responses from 58,000
ConsumerReports.org subscribers. That represents a significant dip for AT&T
since the review firm's 2009 survey.
"We take this seriously, and we continually look for new ways to
improve the customer service,"
an
AT&T spokesperson told CNNMoney.com Dec. 6.
Consumer Reports also named AT&T's GoPhone the worst provider in
the no-contract category, "receiving relatively low marks for value and
voice service."
Among those surveyed, around half of AT&T subscribers owned an iPhone. "Consumer
Reports data, reflecting all versions of the phone," read a Dec. 6 note
from the review firm, "found that iPhone owners were much less satisfied
with their carrier and rated data service (Web and e-mail) lower than owners of
smart phones on other carriers that, like the iPhone, have a host of apps to
encourage heavy data use."
The survey also found that 20 percent of respondents had received an "unexpectedly
high cell-phone bill" in the previous year. "Half of those
respondents were hit for at least $50, and one in five for more than $100,"
read
Consumer Reports' note.
"Our survey suggests that an iPhone from Verizon Wireless, which is
rumored, could indeed be good news for iPhone fans," Paul Reynolds,
electronics editor for
Consumer Reports, wrote in a Dec. 6 statement.
Verizon Wireless and Sprint were tied neck-and-neck in the survey, with U.S.
Cellular edging both out to take the top slot.
Consumer Reports famously became Apple's bane this summer, when it
refused to endorse the iPhone 4 because of antenna issues. "When your
finger or hand touches a spot on the phone's lower left side-an easy thing,
especially for lefties-the signal can degrade enough to cause you to lose your
connection altogether if you're in an area with weak signal," the firm's
Mike Gikas
blogged July 12.
Two weeks later, Apple launched a free bumper giveaway to anyone purchasing
an iPhone 4 before October 2010. The bumpers covered the antenna rim,
supposedly correcting the issue. Apple ended that program for all iPhone 4 units
sold after Sept. 30.
Rumors suggest that AT&T will lose its excusive hold on the iPhone-most
likely to Verizon-sometime in early 2011.
In
a Dec. 6 research note, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu suggested that
Verizon may be negotiating with Apple to prevent competitors Sprint and
T-Mobile from obtaining their own iPhones.
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