Consumer Reports Readers Say AT&T Is the Worst Carrier

ConsumerReports.org readers have spoken, revealing that AT&T is the lowest scoring cell-phone carrier in the U.S., turning in a reader score of 60 out of 100 in a recent survey.

AT&T was the only service carrier in the rankings to see a significant drop in rating compared to last year's survey.

Coming in first of this survey of 58,000 readers was U.S. Cellular, toppling service provider giant and perennial champion Verizon Wireless.

Sprint, in turn, showed improvement as it pulled nearly even with the dethroned Verizon. T-Mobile was in fourth place, but still ahead of AT&T.

iPhone Not Helping
The survey participants also showed that AT&T's iPhone exclusivity is doing it no favors, as 50% of the survey participants who used AT&T owned some form of Apple's smart phone.

Fans of the device could soon be given another option, as recent rumors abound that the iPhone may become available to Verizon users early next year.

AT&T Responds
AT&T has addressed the survey results, rattling off a series of statistics in response to the dissatisfaction expressed by its customers.

"We take this seriously and we continually look for new ways to improve the customer experience," read a statement from the carrier. "The fact is wireless customers have choices and a record number of them chose AT&T in the third quarter."

It also cited "hard data from independent drive tests," which confirmed that AT&T has the nation's fastest mobile broadband service and is 20 percent faster than its nearest competitor.

Source