National Consumers League Releases Comprehensive Survey About Consumers and Communications Services

National Consumers League Releases Comprehensive Survey About Consumers and Communications Services

Many Americans Believe Telephone, Internet Services are Good Values, Less Satisfied With Cable, Satellite TV Services

WASHINGTON, July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new survey released today by the National Consumers League (NCL), many adults in the U.S. are purchasing a wide variety of communications services and are ready to embrace new technologies in the future: 39 percent of adults who use a landline said they are likely to give it up and use only a wireless phone at home within the next two years; and 46 percent of those who have heard of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) said it was likely that they would switch from their traditional landline service to this technology.

A Washington-based nonprofit education and advocacy organization, NCL commissioned the telephone survey of 1,000 adults, conducted by Harris Interactive(R), to better understand consumers' current and future use of telephone, Internet, and television services such as cable and satellite. "People seem to be excited about new communications options," said Susan Grant, Vice President for Public Policy at NCL. "More choices are good for consumers, but they need help navigating this increasingly complex communications marketplace."

Many consumers have taken advantage of their ability to choose from multiple telephone providers; three-quarters of those with long-distance service have switched their long distance carriers (76 percent), and nearly half (45%) of those with local service have switched their local service providers. Similarly, nearly half (47%) of those with wireless service have switched providers. Each month, consumers who have these services report that they pay an average of $70 for telephone, $51 for television and $28 for Internet. But they aren't always happy with what they get. Consumers are most satisfied with the services for which they believe they have a choice of providers -- landline telephone, wireless telephone, and Internet services. Among these services, cable television, for which few consumers have a choice of providers, rated lowest in terms of satisfaction with quality and value.

There are significant gaps in which services consumers have and how they use them. For example, 65 percent of adults with incomes over $100,000 have high-speed Internet access compared to 14 percent of those who make less than $25,000 a year, and 40 percent of those aged 18 to 24 have high-speed Internet access, while only 18 percent of people aged 65 and older do. Cost is a factor: 35 percent of respondents with dial-up Internet service cited cost as the reason they don't have high-speed service.

The survey also showed that consumers are interested in bundles of services -- if the price is right. But some find it hard to comparison shop for services, and advertisements don't give them all the information they need to do so. Twenty-six percent of respondents said it is difficult to understand their phone bills.

To help consumers make the most of their communications options, NCL announced new tips at http://www.nclnet.org/communications. Highlights from the survey, complete survey results, and other resources can also be found at the Web site.

About NCL

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America's pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit http://www.nclnet.org/.

Methodology

Harris Interactive(R) conducted this survey for the National Consumers League by telephone between February 28 and March 6, 2005 among 1,000 U.S. adults (aged 18+). Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults, number of voice/telephone lines in the household, region and size of place were weighted where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population. Sampling error for the overall sample results is +/- 3 percentage points. Sampling error for the various sub-sample results is higher and varies.

Source: National Consumers League

CONTACT: Carol McKay of National Consumers League, +1-202-835-3323, ext. 114, or media@nclnet.org

Web site: http://www.nclnet.org/ http://www.nclnet.org/communications

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