Consumers say they would rather bundle communications services with a telco than a cableco by a 2 to 1 margin, even though cable bundles currently outnumber telco bundles by 2 to 1.

According
to a recent study by the CFI Group, customers switching from cable to
telco identified high rates and poor customer service as the two
biggest reasons for leaving their cable provider, while customers
leaving telcos cited slow access speeds as their reason for jumping to
cable.



This
trend suggests that, as they install more high-speed fiber services
across their networks, telcos may attract many cableco customers…
perhaps also the ones who abandoned them.



“But the
network upgrades aren’t going to happen overnight,” said Phil Doriot,
program director for CFI Group, “so cable companies still have the
opportunity to improve their customer service and cover their Achilles
heel.”



Although
they are not as established in the bundling market, telcos own national
wireless carriers that could prove to be advantageous by attracting
customers that are dropping their land lines in favour of wireless
service.



“Without
a wireless play, cablecos aren’t future-proofing their bundles, but new
technologies like WiMax might change the game,” said Doriot.



These
results are drawn from the second annual Telecom-Cable Industry
Satisfaction Study from CFI Group, which examined customer satisfaction
for video, broadband, Internet access and wireless communications. CLICK HERE to get the full report free of charge.