JD Power: ISPs' Satisfaction Ratings Rise

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -- Overall customer satisfaction with residential high-speed Internet service providers has increased from 2008, primarily due to improvements in performance and reliability, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Internet Service Provider Residential Customer Satisfaction StudySM released today.

Now in its 12th year, the study measures customer satisfaction with high-speed Internet service based on five factors: performance and reliability; cost of service; customer service; billing; and offerings and promotions.

The study finds that overall satisfaction with residential high-speed Internet service is 639 on a 1,000-point scale-an increase of 22 index points compared with 2008.

The study also finds that customer satisfaction with performance and reliability averages 687 in 2009-a 43-point increase from 644 in 2008. Contributing to this improvement are a decrease in the percentage of customers who report experiencing service outages, as well as improved customer perceptions of connection speed.

"In many instances a household's Internet connection acts as the backbone of its voice, video and information services, making the provider's ability to provide a fast, reliable connection particularly critical," said Frank Perazzini, director of telecommunications at J.D. Power and Associates. "As households become more dependent on services provided via the Internet, eliminating outages and providing consistent connection speeds will become necessities in Internet service providers' business models."

J.D. Power and Associates