Overall customer satisfaction in the American cell phone market has increased significantly since this time last year, with most customers reacting well to new services, and aggressive pricing on bundled offerings.

The annual report from J.D. Power and Associates measures customer satisfaction with their wireless carriers, based on 42 specific measures, grouped into six key performance factors.

In order of importance, these factors include call performance and reliability (26%), customer service (17%), service plan options (17%), brand image (14%), cost of services (14%), and billing procedures (12%).

Over the past three years, satisfaction has fluctuated significantly as recent mergers and other industry changes have affected the experience of customers. And in the past year, the changes have apparently been for the better, with overall satisfaction climbing by 3%.

The largest factors influencing this improvement have been service plan options and cost, according to the report.

"It's encouraging to see that industry-wide service improvements, especially expanded service offerings and aggressive service plan pricing have resulted in more positive overall wireless service experiences," commented Kirk Parsons, who is the senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates. "However, consumer expectations will continue to rise as cell phone users increasingly rely on the communication functions of their cell phones beyond voice calling."

T-Mobile ranks highest overall, with #1 performance across all six U.S. geographical regions. Five of these #1 rankings, however, were ties with Verizon Wireless, which is a close second place nationwide.

(Originally published by TeleClick.ca on April 24, 2006)