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Cell Phone Satisfaction

Aired January 07, 2004 - 15:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Deciding whether to go wireless isn't so difficult, but picking a provider is another story. A new national survey out today could help you find the best deals and providers.
Julie Vallese has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 156 million Americans have gone wireless. And with six major companies all vying for business, talk may be cheap, but the price for customer satisfaction is high.

JIM GUEST, PRESIDENT, CONSUMER REPORTS: The cell phone companies are going to have to improve the service, have to deal with the issues of dead zones, dropped calls, poor reception.

VALLESE: Those are key factors consumers use to rate cellular providers in a study by Consumer Reports.

GUEST: Verizon had the better rating than the others in terms of customer satisfaction.

VALLESE: Verizon says it has taken extra steps to do that, in many major cities, putting relay transmitters in places where reception is questionable.

(on camera): Here in Washington, Verizon is the only carrier with transmitters located in tunnels throughout the subway system.

(voice-over): As for the other services, AT&T, Cingular, Nextel, Sprint, and T-Mobile, customer satisfaction varied from city to city. The Industry Association says quality of service is their No. 1 goal and will improve because of competition.

STEVE LARGENT, CELLULAR TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION: In any given market, you have between six and eight carriers that provide wireless services. So, if you don't like, you know, wireless carrier A, you can go to B, C, D, E, F or G. And that is the best regulator in a competitive marketplace.

VALLESE: And to do that, consumers should ask themselves, how many minutes do they use, where and when are most calls made, and what special features are used most?

Julie Vallese, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 7, 2004 - 15:24   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Deciding whether to go wireless isn't so difficult, but picking a provider is another story. A new national survey out today could help you find the best deals and providers.
Julie Vallese has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 156 million Americans have gone wireless. And with six major companies all vying for business, talk may be cheap, but the price for customer satisfaction is high.

JIM GUEST, PRESIDENT, CONSUMER REPORTS: The cell phone companies are going to have to improve the service, have to deal with the issues of dead zones, dropped calls, poor reception.

VALLESE: Those are key factors consumers use to rate cellular providers in a study by Consumer Reports.

GUEST: Verizon had the better rating than the others in terms of customer satisfaction.

VALLESE: Verizon says it has taken extra steps to do that, in many major cities, putting relay transmitters in places where reception is questionable.

(on camera): Here in Washington, Verizon is the only carrier with transmitters located in tunnels throughout the subway system.

(voice-over): As for the other services, AT&T, Cingular, Nextel, Sprint, and T-Mobile, customer satisfaction varied from city to city. The Industry Association says quality of service is their No. 1 goal and will improve because of competition.

STEVE LARGENT, CELLULAR TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION: In any given market, you have between six and eight carriers that provide wireless services. So, if you don't like, you know, wireless carrier A, you can go to B, C, D, E, F or G. And that is the best regulator in a competitive marketplace.

VALLESE: And to do that, consumers should ask themselves, how many minutes do they use, where and when are most calls made, and what special features are used most?

Julie Vallese, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com