Cable phone services lead parts of a 2006 satisfaction survey

What the survey measured

The study covered 12,196 customers who bought local and long-distance telephone service from one provider. It evaluated reliability, billing, customer service and promotions. Cox Communications led the Northeast, West and Southwest; Verizon led the Mid-Atlantic, Time Warner the North Central region and Bright House Networks the Southeast.

The survey did not include Vonage or other independent VoIP providers in its regional rankings because their customer bases were too geographically dispersed for the method used. Respondents reported lower average monthly bills from cable-phone providers than from traditional telephone companies, even as overall satisfaction declined. Those findings are bounded by the study’s sample, categories and regional design.

A satisfaction ranking has a defined population

The study concerns respondents who received local and long-distance service from one provider, and it compares results by US region. That definition matters before reading the rankings.

The dimensions explain what was measured

Reliability, billing, customer service and promotions are the attributes named in the account. Together they describe a customer assessment broader than a technical network test. A provider can score well in a survey without the result proving every aspect of its technology, and a lower score cannot identify a single cause without further evidence.

Bills and satisfaction are related but distinct

The report notes lower average monthly bills from cable-phone providers while overall satisfaction continued to decline. That pairing is a useful reminder that price is only one element of the respondent experience. The survey’s historical value is in showing which providers led within its defined regional method, not in proving a permanent advantage for cable telephony.

Survey boundary

The regional survey supports a bounded account of respondent satisfaction. It leaves open why respondents scored providers as they did and whether a result would apply beyond the defined regional sample.

How the pieces fit

The study’s design matters because it compared people who bought both local and long-distance service from one provider. Reliability, billing, customer service, and promotions were therefore parts of one customer relationship rather than isolated product tests. Excluding geographically dispersed independent VoIP providers was a methodological choice tied to regional rankings, not a verdict on their service quality. The regional winners and lower average bills are most useful as a picture of the cable-phone proposition at that moment: a bundled provider was being judged across the full service experience.