WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 Study(SM) released today.

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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."

Among customers who bundle services from their Internet service provider, the most popular option is a combination of video and Internet services, which is selected by approximately one-third of customers who bundle their services. The percentage of customers who bundle voice, video and data services has increased from 16 percent in 2008 to 19 percent in 2009. In addition, the proportion of customers who indicate they "probably will" or "definitely will" bundle their Internet service with other voice or video services in the next year has increased to 52 percent in 2009 from 43 percent in 2008.

"Internet service may be considered the lynchpin of the bundled offering, serving to drive both customer loyalty and incremental sales opportunities," said Perazzini. "As competition for new customers increases among Internet service providers, retaining the existing customer base while promoting additional voice and video will continue to be critical."

High-speed Internet service providers are examined in four regions:

East Region: Verizon ranks highest with a score of 673 and performs particularly well in four of five factors: performance and reliability; cost of service; billing; and offerings and promotions. Optimum Online (Cablevision) follows in the regional rankings with a score of 666, while Cox ranks third with a score of 650.

South Region: With a score of 686, Bright House Networks' Road Runner service ranks highest in the South region and performs well in the cost of service; customer service; and billing factors. Insight Communications follows in the rankings with a score of 668 while EarthLink and Verizon rank third in the region, in a tie (666 each).

North Central Region: Performing particularly well in all five factors driving satisfaction, WOW! ranks highest in the region with a score of 723. Cincinnati Bell follows with 678, while Verizon ranks third with 676.

West Region: EarthLink ranks highest in the West region with a score of 653 and performs particularly well in the offerings and promotions factor. Following EarthLink in the regional rankings are Verizon (650) and Cox (647).

The study findings include the following key trends:

    --  The proportion of high-speed Internet service customers who indicate
        they are loyal to their provider has increased by two percentage points
        from 2008, to 32 percent in 2009. Additionally, 66 percent of customers
        state they "definitely will" or "probably will" recommend their provider
        to others in 2009--an increase of four percentage points, compared with
        2008.
    --  Among customers who contacted their service provider to resolve a
        problem or question, average hold times have decreased by nearly 30
        seconds in 2009, compared with 2008.

The 2009 Internet Service Provider Residential Customer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 23,997 residential customers of Internet service providers nationwide. The study was fielded in January, March and July 2009.

Overall Customer Satisfaction East Region (Based on a 1,000-point scale) J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings For Consumers Verizon 673 5 Optimum Online (Cablevision) 666 5 Cox 650 3 EarthLink 647 3 East Region Segment Average 643 3 Time Warner Cable (RR) 636 3 AT&T Yahoo! 632 3 Embarq 631 3 Frontier 621 2 Comcast 610 2 RCN 588 2 Charter 568 2 East Region includes: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. South Region (Based on a 1,000-point scale) J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings For Consumers Bright House Networks (RR) 686 5 Insight 668 4 EarthLink 666 4 Verizon 666 4 Cox 665 4 AT&T Yahoo! 662 4 Embarq 658 4 Cable One 656 4 South Region Segment Average 641 3 Time Warner Cable (RR) 636 3 Windstream 630 3 CenturyTel 619 3 Comcast 592 2 Charter 575 2 Mediacom 573 2 South Region includes: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. North Central Region (Based on a 1,000-point scale) J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings For Consumers WOW! 723 5 Cincinnati Bell 678 4 Verizon 676 4 Insight 675 4 EarthLink 669 4 Embarq 666 4 AT&T Yahoo! 665 4 Cox 649 3 North Central Region Segment Average 642 3 Time Warner Cable (RR) 629 3 CenturyTel 611 2 Comcast 593 2 Charter 587 2 North Central Region includes: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. West Region (Based on a 1,000-point scale) J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings For Consumers EarthLink 653 5 Verizon 650 5 Cox 647 5 Cable One 646 5 AT&T Yahoo! 640 4 Embarq 639 3 Qwest 637 3 West Region Segment Average 631 3 Comcast 615 3 Time Warner Cable (RR) 610 2 Frontier 596 2 Charter 590 2 Mediacom 572 2 West Region includes: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Power Circle Ratings Legend: 5 - Among the best 4 - Better than most 3 - About average 2 - The rest

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, Web intelligence and customer satisfaction. The company's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies:

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts, Capital IQ, J.D. Power and Associates, McGraw-Hill Construction and Aviation Week. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2008 were $6.4 billion. Additional information is available at www.mcgraw-hill.com.

J.D. Power and Associates Media Relations Contacts: John Tews; Troy, Mich.; (248) 312-4119; media.relations@jdpa.com Syvetril Perryman; Westlake Village, Calif.; (805) 418-8103; media.relations@jdpa.com

No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates. www.jdpower.com/corporate

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CONTACT: John Tews, Troy, Mich., +1-248-312-4119,
media.relations@jdpa.com, or Syvetril Perryman, Westlake Village, Calif.,
+1-805-418-8103, media.relations@jdpa.com, both of J.D. Power and
Associates