J.D. Power: The Carrier with the Highest Business Wireline Satisfaction Is . . .

All three segments of the business – small, medium and enterprise – have grown happier with their wireline provider, according to J.D. Power’s 2023 U.S. Business Wireline Satisfaction Study.

The highlights of the study:

Small Business Satisfaction (fewer than 20 employees): A satisfaction increase of 30 points on a 1,000-point scale. Verizon won the segment for the fifth year in a row with score of 828. AT&T was second at 813. The segment average is 799.

Medium size business (20 to 499 employees): An increase of 14 points. AT&T won the category with a score of 861. Verizon was a single point behind. The segment average is 848.

Large enterprises (500 or more employees) An increase of 13 points. AT&T won for the sixth consecutive year with a score of 886. Verizon was second with 880 points. The segment average is 873.

“Business wireline providers have shown they can be nimble and cater to each business segment’s needs,” J.D. Power managing director Ian Greenblatt said in a press release about the business wireline satisfaction report. “Specifically, we see that small business customers quickly want to be informed of outages, why they were caused and that their provider is on top of it.

“Medium business customers need efficiency, specifically with access to bill pay on mobile apps and customer service contact. Large enterprise customers are receiving provider communications in their preferred format and although they say [they are] receiving fewer communications this year than last, they are just as likely to say the frequency is ‘just right.’ Business customer service cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach; flexibility and resiliency is key to continuing an increase in satisfaction.”

The survey consisted of the view of 5,141 business customers. It evaluated wireline performance in six categories: performance and reliability; cost of service; communications; sales representatives and account executives; billing; and customer service. 

The category winners in last year’s edition of the study were the same in the large enterprise and small business categories. In the medium business category, last year’s winner was Verizon.

In the small business category, Verizon’s score of 792 last year was 36 points lower than the company’s score this year. Nevertheless, Verizon won the category last year.