Subject: [NEXTEL-1] In-Stat/MDR Survey Finds Verizon Wireless Likely to be Least Affected by LNP

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 19:11:12 -0500

November 03, 2003 01:31 PM US Eastern Timezone

In-Stat/MDR Survey Finds Verizon Wireless Likely to be Least Affected by
LNP

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 3, 2003--With customers rating
the company the highest overall on such attributes as service price,
geographic coverage, network quality/reliability, and customer service,
Verizon Wireless appears to be in the least threat of business customer
turnover once Local Number Portability (LNP) is implemented. According
to a recent survey of its Wireless Panel (made up of business users,
primarily), In-Stat/MDR (http://www.instat.com) finds that with more
than half of the respondents having stuck with their providers for three
or more years, end users tend to stay with companies that they like.
This bodes well for Verizon Wireless, having rated the highest on
several scores such as overall satisfaction (rating the carrier a "4" or
a "5" on a 5-point scale -- extremely or very satisfied with their
provider), satisfaction based on the top eight and top four drivers of
satisfaction, among others. Clearly, this explains why the company has
come out as the most vocal proponent of LNP implementation.
"Wireless churn will increase once LNP is implemented on Nov. 24, 2003.
With that date not far off, wireless carriers must take a good look at
their customer satisfaction and take measures to stem off as much churn
as possible on and after that date," said Becky Diercks, director of
In-Stat/MDR's Custom Research and principal analyst, Wireless
Data/Internet Research Services. "Those carriers with low satisfaction
stand the greatest potential loss of customers once LNP is implemented."
These carriers include Alltel, Cingular and Sprint, among others.
In-Stat/MDR also found that:

-- AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless currently have the highest
cellular penetration in the business environment, and therefore
potentially stand the most to lose, as it pertains to that segment, on
and after Nov. 24, 2003.

-- In the business environment, corporate contracts are increasingly
being implemented. This means that wireless carriers are challenged not
to just satisfy the end-user customers, but also to keep its corporate
decision-maker customers happy, by providing superior pricing programs
based on volume, network management tools, and customer service.

The report, "LNP D-Day Forces Cellular Carriers to Re-Assess The Drivers
of Customer Satisfaction" (#IN030546WI), details the key drivers of
cellular customer satisfaction, and illustrates how carriers' customers
rated them on an overall basis (based on several different scores), as
well as on key driving attributes (i.e., service price, network
quality/reliability, geographic coverage and customer service, wireless
features/data services, wide variety of handsets). Detail is provided
for the top carriers, including: Alltel, AT&T Wireless, Cingular,
Nextel, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile, US Cellular and Verizon Wireless.  The
report is based on interviews with more than 1,000 business cellular
users. To purchase this report, or for more information, please visit:
http://www.instat.com/catalog/Wpcatalogue.asp?id=104 or contact Rick
Vogelei at 480-609-4533; [email-masked]. The report price is
$2,495.

About In-Stat/MDR

In-Stat/MDR (http://www.MDRonline.com) offers a broad range of
information resources and analytical assets to technology vendors,
service providers, technology professionals, and market specialists
worldwide. The company stands alone in its ability to integrate both
supply-side and demand-side research methodologies into a single
comprehensive view of technology markets and products. This capability
relies on a unique ability to cover the entire value chain from
engineering-level technology, through equipment, infrastructure,
services and end users.

In-Stat/MDR is part of the Reed Electronics Group, a division of Reed
Elsevier (www.reedelsevier.com), a world-leading publisher and
information provider. With more than 38,000 employees worldwide, Reed
Elsevier operates in the science & medical, legal, education and
business-to-business industry sectors, providing high value and flexible
information solutions to professional end users, with increasing
emphasis on the Internet.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20031103005884&newsLang=en

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