In a new survey done by ChangeWave Research, Verizon’s subscribers reported lowest number of dropped calls (1.5%) and AT&T’s customers reported highest number of dropped calls (4.5%) out of four major carriers in US. Sprint came in second with 2.4% and T-Mobile was third with 2.8% of dropped class. While Verizon’s dropped call frequency has been going down continuously since September 2008, AT&T’s dropped call frequency has been raising continuously during that time.

According to the survey, level of dropped calls directly correlates to customer satisfaction, as 49% of Verizon customers were “very satisfied” with the service and only 23% AT&T customers were “very satisfied”. Sprint was second in customer satisfaction also with 35% and T-mobile was third with 23%.

ChangeWave also asked respondents how likely they are to switch wireless providers over next 90 days (churn rates). Here the story was totally different as AT&T came in second with only 8% customers likely to switch even though they have poor customer satisfaction and higher dropped call frequency. Verizon topped the chart again with just 7% saying they’ll switch. Sprint was in third place with 10% followed by T-Mobile with 14%.

ChangeWave says “AT&T’s low churn rate –despite its relatively poor Very Satisfied rating and its high percentage of dropped calls – is attributable to the huge advantage it continues to maintain as the exclusive U.S. service provider for the Apple iPhone.” It will be interesting if Apple decides to launch iPhone on Verizon network this summer.
[Via ChangeWave]