Virgin tops JD Power pre-paid survey

[Fire14]

J.D. Power: Prepaid services get high marks

Customer satisfaction in the prepaid sector has increased considerably since last year, driven by new pricing options and services, according to the latest survey by J.D. Power and Associates.

Overall satisfaction got a boost of 10 points on the company’s 1,000-point scale, with cost of service in particular showing the largest increase in satisfaction. J.D. Power said that contributing factors to the cost of service satisfaction increase were “improvements related to the cost/value relationship of airtime minutes offered for the price paid, and fairness of charges for calls made while roaming outside the local calling area.”

Customers also reported improved call quality and the ability to make and receive calls within buildings, as well as perceived size of the local calling area.

Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. outperformed other prepaid competitors in the space for a second year, ranking high above the industry average index score on J.D. Powers’ scale. Virgin Mobile USA scored especially well in areas of cost of service, account management, initial activation and service plan options.

“By providing its customers with positive service experiences, Virgin Mobile continues to differentiate itself from the competition in areas related to support functions,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services for J.D. Power.

Virgin Mobile USA had an index score of 758, and its closest competitors—Boost Mobile and AT&T Mobility’s GoPhone offering—came in at 729. T-Mobile USA Inc.’s T-Mobile To Go service had the third-highest score and stayed above the industry average of 727.

Meanwhile, prepaid offerings from Tracfone Wireless Inc., Alltel Corp. and Verizon Wireless fell below the average. Indeed, Verizon Wireless, for once, found itself bringing up the rear. The carrier typically ranks among the top providers of postpaid service.

The survey also found that:

--Prepaid users spend about $38, on average, when purchasing additional airtime. They report using about 218 minutes per month. Postpaid users average about 528 minutes of use per month.

--Nearly 60% of prepaid phones with prepackaged minutes are bought at retail stores, with another 25% purchased via the Internet. About 16% of customers bought minutes separately from their wireless phone.

--It’s a toss-up as to whether customers top-up their wireless minutes by purchasing a card through a local retailer or going through a provider’s Web site. J.D. Power found that 36% of prepaid customers went for the cards and 36% used the Web. Meanwhile, the percentage of customers who used their handsets for top-up increased from 10% in 2006 to 13% this year.

Despite the improvements in prepaid customer satisfaction, Parsons cautioned that “customer expectations will continue to rise as wireless users increasingly rely on the communication functions of their cellphones beyond voice calling. With the addition of features such as unlimited text messaging and video-sharing plans, prepaid service offerings are beginning to match postpaid offerings, which will contribute further to the increase in customer expectations.”

This is the second year of the prepaid survey. Results were based on feedback from nearly 3,000 prepaid wireless users gathered in January and April of this year. The study measures customer satisfaction in seven areas, weighted by importance in the following order: call quality, company image, cost of service, account management, initial activation, service plan options and customer service.

J.D. Power: Prepaid services get high marks :: RCR Wireless News

[Mobile Mike]

I'm not surprised. Many friends of mine that have prepaid service have Virgin and like it a lot.

They're marketed well and they do what prepaid is supposed to do.

The only thing about them I don't care for is their over-abundant selection of Kyocera phones. They get the cheapest of the cheap phones, and who better than Kyocera to fit the bill.

It's no wonder they're the largest MVNO.

[larry]

I think this shows that Sprint's CDMA network is rocking right now.

[Quint101]

I'm not too surprised that Verizon is at the bottom for prepaid... the only thing they have going is mobile to mobile and unlimited nights. I had their EasyPay service for a month and the network was great, but their CS left something to be desired. I still cannot believe that an activation fee is charged ... most others don't charge a fee. Most of my area is roaming so I would be paying roaming fees For some weird reason, Verizon's prepaid service has taken off here... I've seen lots of people talking on their Nokia 2366i's. I'm saddened at the lack of rate options available.

I currently have an ALLTEL U phone and I'm disappointed at their CS. Long hold times and unhelpful reps are what I have experienced. Alltel has great rate plans for prepaid but that crazy activation fee is something most people won't pay. It's a shame that airtime still applies whenever some one leaves you a meaasge

Tmobile has been a pleasant experience for me... it helps that I had some pleasant surprises. ATT has been good also. I feel that Virgin provides a good value for the money despite the horrible phone selection.

I can only reccommend Verizon or ALLTEL if you do lots of mobile to mobile or if Sprint or TMobile don't work in your area.

[Fire14]

Originally Posted by Quint101 I'm not too surprised that Verizon is at the bottom for prepaid... the only thing they have going is mobile to mobile and unlimited nights. I had their EasyPay service for a month and the network was great, but their CS left something to be desired. I still cannot believe that an activation fee is charged ... most others don't charge a fee. Most of my area is roaming so I would be paying roaming fees For some weird reason, Verizon's prepaid service has taken off here... I've seen lots of people talking on their Nokia 2366i's. I'm saddened at the lack of rate options available.

I agree they are very high & restrictive with their pre-paid service & if they weren't I would have gotten 1 to play around with, I think I did find someone at a store willing to let me demo a Verizon phone for a while so I can give better detailed reports in my area.

[Mobile Mike]

Originally Posted by Quint101 I'm not too surprised that Verizon is at the bottom for prepaid... the only thing they have going is mobile to mobile and unlimited nights. I had their EasyPay service for a month and the network was great, but their CS left something to be desired. I still cannot believe that an activation fee is charged ... most others don't charge a fee. Most of my area is roaming so I would be paying roaming fees For some weird reason, Verizon's prepaid service has taken off here... I've seen lots of people talking on their Nokia 2366i's. I'm saddened at the lack of rate options available.

Originally Posted by Fire14 I agree they are very high & restrictive with their pre-paid service & if they weren't I would have gotten 1 to play around with, I think I did find someone at a store willing to let me demo a Verizon phone for a while so I can give better detailed reports in my area.

I agree with both of you. Verizon's prepaid is pathetic. They charge you $1.00 a day, even if you don't make a call. That's basically $30.00/month. Might as well get post-paid for that price. Why even bother?