Yankee Group: Taking the Pulse of the Wireless Business Market: US Carrier Satisfaction Study

Executive Summary

As the U.S. wireless market matures, service providers are fighting more intensely for existing high-value subscribers as well as attempting to add new service capabilities and revenue streams. The enterprise market has long represented a high-value segment for traditional voice services, and it was an early adopter of data services on smartphones (e.g., wireless e-mail) and wireless broadband (e.g., laptop connectivity). It remains a significant and growing segment of the market in the U.S., representing 78 million subscribers in 2009 and growing to more than 90 million by 2013.

The Big Four U.S. carriers—AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon—dominate the wireless enterprise market, owning 99 percent of primary wireless voice relationships among large enterprises, and 92 percent of relationships among small and midsize businesses (SMBs). So growth within the enterprise segment is less about uncovering new subscribers than stealing subscribers from competitors. The growth of smartphones, mobile applications, and 3G and soon-to-be 4G mobile broadband services sets the stage for a renewed round of competition among wireless operators for the mindshare and marketshare of enterprise subscribers.

Given the importance of the enterprise market, Yankee Group is interested in how well wireless carriers are currently serving their large enterprise and SMB customers. We surveyed wireless service decision-makers and influencers within 274 large enterprises (500 or more employees) and 292 SMBs (fewer than 500 employees) to determine their satisfaction with wireless voice and data services from their primary wireless provider. This report examines the findings of our initial survey conducted in November 2009 and details results for the Big Four carriers across 10 categories for wireless voice services and 11 categories for wireless data services.

Keywords

Carrier, satisfaction, study, wireless, market

Pages
Publish Date & Author(s)

by Eugene Signorini, Vice President
12 pages
February 2010