Best Cellphone Company? All of Them, to Hear Them Say It

The New York Times writes that U.S. network operators "emphasis on service quality — which broadly includes factors like coverage area, dropped calls and the speed of data connections — comes as the carriers spend tens of billions of dollars to upgrade their networks, leaving them eager to avoid price wars that could undercut their chances of recouping their money."

Jonathan Atkin at RBC Capital Markets said, "None of them want to lead with price, so if you have a network that is better, it's great. Spending on voice calls is falling even without a price war, so they don't want to cut prices."

Voice quality and reliable service is still a big factor in the market and the carriers are still adding new customers while reducing churn. Of course with everyone claiming the best networks and service, someone has to be stretching the truth, right?

Cingular claims "its ads are based on findings by Telephia," which recently sent a letter the four largest wireless companies that confirmed that Cingular had a "statistically significant lower dropped-call rate than the competition across some market/time period groupings." Telephia also noted that it had "no knowledge of the specific methodology (markets, time periods or statistical thresholds) Cingular used to reach the nationwide 'lowest dropped call' conclusion."

According to the article, "some analysts say that Verizon has already won the debate over who has the best network service and that Sprint and Cingular should find other, more distinct messages to send to consumers." David Chamberlain at In-Stat said, "Anyone who's been through business school would find it odd" that Verizon's rivals are focusing on network quality. There are huge things to talk about — data speeds, 3G service, customer service. I don't think networks are the last thing you can talk about."

Chamberlain pointed out that the "consumers who really value network quality are those who use a cellphone as their only phone and those who rely on their phones for work. Many other consumers, particularly younger ones, are more likely to choose a carrier based on the handset, not the quality of the network."