Verizon Wireless dominated every region for tops in wireless call quality, according to the latest J.D. Power and Associates study. That’s not too much of a surprise based on reader comments, my personal experience and other reports.

Only in “North Central” America, which includes Illinois and Ohio, Verizon came in second to U.S. Cellular.

Here in “The West,” which includes Orange County, Verizon Wireless was a notch above T-Mobile and Sprint. AT&T came in last. See chart on right.

The study, based on responses from 24,345 wireless users, measured dropped calls, interference, failed calls, and delayed notification of voicemail and text messages. The study looked at problems per 100 calls.

Verizon, which has a local headquarters in Irvine, has been upgrading and adding new cell sites in Orange County. But so has AT&T. But AT&T users, especially iPhone owners, haven’t been quiet about their discontent with AT&T’s service.

Still, the report notes that call quality performance overall has declined in the past six months as more consumers switch to smartphones. The reason? The volume of new subscribers using wireless networks because they can now go online anytime has taxed existing technology.

“…It is crucial for wireless carriers to enhance existing network speed and capacity, as well as to develop and upgrade to next-generation technologies,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates, in a statement.

For example, 13 out of every 100 calls had quality issues, compared to 11 out of every 100 six months ago. Some big reasons: The number of dropped calls has increased to 6 for every 100 calls, from 4 dropped calls six months ago. Interestingly, the report says that smartphone customers are three times more likely to experience dropped calls than other mobile users.

Read the report HERE.

Recent Verizon Wireless news:

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.