U.S. Cellular, a mostly regional cell phone carrier in the Midwest, ranked number one for cell phone carriers in a Consumer Reports survey. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
Recently, Consumer Reports unleashed its rankings of cellular service providers, and U.S. Cellular came out on top. Oddly enough, AT&T, which carries the iPhone, was rated the worst of major providers. However, Apple disciples can rejoice as the iPhone was one of the best-rated smart phones.
US Cellular rated the best, serving mostly Midwest
U.S. Cellular, in the annual Consumer Reports cell phone survey about carriers and models, was rated best cell phone carrier, according to Computerworld. The small carrier, with about 6 million subscribers in 26 states mostly in the Midwest, scored an 82 out of 100. On the other hand, the mighty fell drastically, with AT&T rating only 60 out of 100. AT&T received less than 60 points on average with consumers in nearly all major metro markets. San Franciscans seemed to hate AT&T’s guts, as the carrier received a 52 out of 100 overall from the city by the bay. Verizon and T-mobile both lost a point since the same survey last year, dipping to 74 and 69, respectively. Sprint climbed to 73 to claim third overall. AT&T was raked over the coals by consumers for poor reception, data access, dropped calls and customer service.
iPhone rated among best smartphones
The survey of about 58,000 consumers also rated smartphones. One of the best-scoring smartphones was the iPhone 4, which received a score from consumers of 76 out of 100. The iPhone tied for first with three other smartphones, all Samsung phones operating on Android. The three Samsung models were the Samsung Captivate, Epic 4G and Vibrant models. A brouhaha developed earlier this year between Apple and Consumer Reports, as Consumer Reports listed the iPhone 4 as a model of smartphone the organization did not recommend buying.
AT&T responds
AT&T immediate fired back, saying that the company is committed to quality and is going to set about changing its image in consumers’ eyes. It appears that the company has a lot of work to do for that to happen.
