AT&T U-verse Tops Customer Satisfaction Survey
AT&T U-verse has something new to brag about, standing out as the top television provider in the South and West according to the latest JD Power survey.
U-verse finished first in the South and West regions, that according to the 2009 Residential Television Service Provider Satisfaction Study by JD Power and Associates. AT&T has a large presence in the former Bell South region which stretches from Virginia down through Florida. U-verse is also being deployed extensively out West in California.
The news is good for AT&T U-verse, which has been criticized on message boards and U-verse forums by some for lengthy installations and freezing picture problems. Better yet, U-verse topped Direct TV, Dish Network and several cable TV companies in the survey. Will the latest news help U-verse in the battle for cable TV subscribers?
Possibly. Getting customers to switch away from cable companies like Comcast and Time Warner is difficult, especially if customers are already tied in to a triple play bundle. Oftentimes, the customer will put up with higher prices, as long as things are running smoothly and they are happy with the content being offered by their cable or satellite TV company.
AT&T U-verse continues to expand into new markets, making DIRECTV and Dish Network take note. Last month, U-verse began offering service in the Baton Rouge market, and just this week began offering U-verse TV in Middle Tennessee market including Nashville.
Telco TV was strong overall in the JD power survey. Verizon Fios topped rankings in the East region, and finished second behind U-verse in the South and West regions. Verizon is on a similar mission, enhancing their network like AT&T to offer triple play bundles of service to compete with cable TV companies.
Direct TV finished a close 3rd behind U-verse TV and Verizon Fios in most regions. Dish Network and different various cable companies like Charter, Comcast, Mediacom, Suddenlink and Time Warner brought up the rear in the four different regions. Overall, customers reported better satisfaction and fewer outages compared to the 2008 television survey.