J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Rewarding Customers for Ongoing Loyalty Elevates Customer Satisfaction With Fixed and Mobile Broadband ISPs in the UK

LONDON, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Offering loyalty incentives, such as discounts on monthly fees, service upgrades and exclusive benefits, provides a considerable lift in customer satisfaction with fixed and mobile broadband Internet service providers (ISPs) in the UK, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 UK Fixed Broadband ISP Customer Satisfaction Study(SM) and the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 UK Mobile Broadband ISP Customer Satisfaction Study(SM), both released today.

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Approximately 15 percent of fixed broadband customers and 16 percent of mobile broadband customers indicate having received incentives from their ISP to reward their ongoing loyalty. Among these fixed and mobile broadband customers, satisfaction averages more than 100 points higher than among customers who don't receive loyalty incentives. Among fixed broadband customers, the difference is an average of 102 points on a 1,000-point scale (737 vs. 635, respectively) while the gap averages 107 points among mobile broadband customers (701 vs. 594, respectively).

"While many Internet service providers offer discounts and rewards when customers initially sign up for or bundle services, incentives for ongoing loyalty have the greatest positive impact on overall satisfaction," said Stuart Crawford-Browne, senior manager of service industries research at J.D. Power and Associates. "Loyalty rewards provide an important and impactful opportunity for ISPs to differentiate themselves, particularly in the increasingly competitive market landscape in which rewards are becoming an expectation among customers."

The study also finds that providing high levels of satisfaction with Internet service has a strong positive impact on recommendation rates. Among mobile broadband customers with the highest levels of satisfaction (averaging between 800 and 1,000) with their service provider, 67 percent indicate they "definitely will" recommend their current provider. This figure averages 64 percent among highly satisfied fixed broadband customers. In contrast, among the least-satisfied customers (with satisfaction averaging 700 or lower), only 8 percent of mobile broadband customers and 9 percent of fixed broadband customers would "definitely recommend" their ISP.

The studies examine five factors that drive overall satisfaction with broadband Internet service providers: performance and reliability; billing(1); cost of the service; customer service/technical support; and offerings and promotions.

Fixed Broadband Internet Service Provider Rankings

O2 ranks highest among fixed broadband Internet service providers for a second consecutive year, achieving a score of 766 and performing particularly well in all five factors driving satisfaction. Plusnet (703) and Sky (676) follow O2 in the rankings.

Mobile Broadband Internet Service Provider Rankings

Among mobile broadband Internet service providers, O2 ranks highest with a score of 653. O2 performs particularly well in two factors: customer service/technical support and offerings and promotions. Orange closely follows O2 in the rankings with a score of 650, while T-Mobile ranks third with a score of 644.

Other Industry Findings

The study finds that, for both fixed and mobile broadband subscribers, performance and reliability carries the greatest importance among the factors examined in the study. As network traffic and data transfer requirements increase, many customers, particularly those with mobile broadband service, express a degree of frustration with network speed and reliability.

"To keep customers satisfied, ISPs will need to focus on investing in infrastructure in the coming years," said Crawford-Browne. "Building networks with the ability to handle fast data transfer speeds will be important not only to customers, but also to businesses and, by extension, the economy as a whole."

The 2010 UK Fixed Broadband ISP Customer Satisfaction Study, now in its fifth year, is based on responses from 2,048 residential customers with fixed line broadband services across the UK. The 2010 UK Mobile Broadband ISP Customer Satisfaction Study, now in its second year, is based on responses from 1,274 mobile broadband customers. Both studies were fielded in February 2010.

(1)In the UK Mobile Broadband ISP Customer Satisfaction Study, this factor is referred to as billing/topping up, to include pre-pay customers who are replenishing credits for mobile broadband usage.

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, Web intelligence and customer satisfaction.  The company's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually.  For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services company meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts, Capital IQ, J.D. Power and Associates, McGraw-Hill Construction and Aviation Week. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2009 were $5.95 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

Media Relations Contacts:

Ian Giles, Guildford, Surrey; England; +44-1483-207613; [email protected]

John Tews; J.D. Power and Associates; Troy, Michigan USA; +1-248-312-4119; [email protected]

No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates. www.jdpower.com/corporate

SOURCE J.D. Power and Associates