For the third year in a row, internet speed and service price were the top drivers of satisfaction among rural internet customers, according to Innovative Systems’ 2025 Rural Broadband Subscriber Study.
On a scale of 1 to 10, rural customers were more satisfied with local providers (7.9 average) than national providers (7.4).
Speed and fair price are the strongest factors influencing customer satisfaction. 68% of customers reported that “good/consistent connection speed” influences their satisfaction, and 61% of customers named “fair price” as a factor in their satisfaction.
Other factors continue to drive customer satisfaction. These factors include good customer service (50%), good technical support (39%), the ability to bundle internet with other services (33%), and that their provider is a local company (24%).
Although speed and price were the strongest factors for every age range of customers in the study, a particularly large portion of customers ages 18 to 34 named fair price as a driver (71%), and a large segment of customers ages 35 to 54 said connection speed influenced their satisfaction (75%).
This year’s Rural Broadband Subscriber Study shows the opposite is true: high prices and poor speeds are the strongest drivers of dissatisfaction among customers. High prices/rates were named as a factor in dissatisfaction by 54% of respondents, up from 51% last year. Poor/inconsistent connection speed influences dissatisfaction for 48% of respondents, down from 56% in 2024.
Older customers were more likely to name high prices as a driver of dissatisfaction, with 56% of customers 35 to 54 naming it as a factor and 66% of customers 55 and older saying high prices sway them.
Other dissatisfaction drivers were far less likely to be named by customers. These include poor customer service (20%), poor technical support (14%), no ability to bundle internet with other services (10%), and their company not being local (6%).
Building Customer Advocates
Building advocates among your customer base starts with keeping your customers satisfied, which — as the Rural Broadband Subscriber Study makes clear — can be accomplished through good connection speeds and fair prices.
The study also shows that 23% of customers say they have reviewed their provider on social media, including 31% of customers ages 18 to 34, 24% of customers 35 to 54, and 14% of customers 55 and older.
While less than a quarter of customers leave reviews, 68% of those reviews are “mostly positive,” a number that rises to 76% among customers ages 18 to 34. Customers gave “mostly negative” reviews 23% of the time, with customers 55 and older writing negative reviews 36% of the time.
There are ways providers can help persuade customers to write good reviews. These include:
- A discount off the next bill or a monetary incentive: 46% of customers said this would help convince them to write a positive review
- A memorable interaction with friendly or helpful staff: 42%
- A quick response to a technical problem: 36%
- Making it easy to leave a review by sending an email or text with a link: 31%
Only 5% of customers said there is nothing that could convince them to write a positive review or that they do not write reviews.
The Innovative Systems 2025 study shows that most customers are already satisfied with their providers. Building customer advocacy continues by providing a great customer experience and making it simple for your customers to leave a review. For nearly a third of customers, that’s as easy as sending them a link and asking for a review. If subscribers don’t know where to go, or it’s difficult, they are more likely to skip the review.
To access the full Innovative Systems’ 2025 Rural Broadband Subscriber Study for more insights, click here.
Jancy Butterworth, Senior Marketing Specialist
Innovative Systems
Jancy Butterworth, Senior Marketing Specialist with Innovative Systems, develops content and crafts BSP stories to help broadband providers understand and reach their market with revenue, customer experience and marketing insights.
