iPhone 4 drops more calls on AT&T than on Verizon

[Matthew DeCarlo]

A new study published by ChangeWave Research indicates that iPhone 4 users are more than twice as likely to experience dropped calls on AT&T's network than Verizon's. According to data submitted by 4,068 iPhone 4 owners over the last 90 days, Apple's handset has a 4.8% chance of dropping a call on AT&T's network versus 1.8% on Verizon's.

That shouldn't come as a total shock as it's in line with ChangeWave's industry-wide dropped call rates of 4.6% for AT&T subscribers and 1.4% for Verizon customers -- and let's face it, AT&T has long been chastised for having spottier coverage. In December, Consumer Reports rated AT&T as the worst carrier in the US, while Verizon was the second best.

Despite experiencing more dropped calls, 80% of iPhone 4 users on AT&T are very satisfied, while 18% are somewhat satisfied. That compares with 82% and 16% for Verizon (both add up to 98% satisfied). Although existing customers might be happy, 46% of those who plan to buy an iPhone 4 in the future say they'll shop with Verizon versus 27% for AT&T.

T-Mobile ranked second in ChangeWave's overall industry figures with 2.3% of calls dropped in the past 90 days, while Sprint placed third with 2.7%. It should be interesting to see if these numbers change in the next year as Verizon's network is bombarded by iPhone users and AT&T gains control of T-Mobile's towers -- assuming their deal is approved.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/43167-iphone-4-drops-more-calls-on-att-than-on-verizon.html

 

[Rick]

I find it interesting that the number of dropped calls total for AT&T is only 0.2% less than drops reported by iPhone users on AT&T... The "iPhone keeps dropping my calls!" crowd has been very vocal, so this is kind of surprising.

Then again, ~4,000 users is hardly representative of the nation and there are a lot of variables to account for here.

 

[Lokalaskurar]

Rick said:
I find it interesting that the number of dropped calls total for AT&T is only 0.2% less than drops reported by iPhone users on AT&T... The "iPhone keeps dropping my calls!" crowd has been very vocal, so this is kind of surprising.

Then again, ~4,000 users is hardly representative of the nation and there are a lot of variables to account for here.

Yes, and also: perhaps the iPhone-dropped-calls crowd would consider the iPhone capable of performing calls correctly in comparison to the cost of an iPhone - so them being very vocal about *any* dropped calls would not really be that surprising.

Now, one is personally not familiar with the deal between T-Mobile and AT&T (saw it on TechSpot somewhere) but if AT&T is really going to acquire T-Mobile, then the AT&T network is sure to broaden. Perhaps even decrease their dropped-calls ratio.

 

[Guest]

Yeah this study isn't biased at all! LOL

Shame on your Techspot for posting this garbage.

 

[Vrmithrax]

Guest said:
Yeah this study isn't biased at all! LOL

Shame on your Techspot for posting this garbage.

Biased how? Because it doesn't paint a falsely glowing picture of AT&T? Or am I missing some other insider information that you know?

The results didn't surprise me at all. In fact, I'd wager that most who have traveled North America with phones from both AT&T and Verizon would be less than shocked, given how spotty and unreliable AT&T coverage can be when compared to Verizon.