128 Million U.S. Mobile Subscribers Experience More than Five Dropped Calls A Month

According the study, there is plenty of room for improvement among operators and handset manufactures, with roughly 2 out of 5 mobile users surveyed admitting to having experienced more than 5 dropped calls per month, representative of roughly 128 million subscribers. The study as well showed that having a clear call connection is very important to 89% of respondents, with 84% of those claiming they are anyway somewhat likely to switch smartphones as a result of poor quality. 78% stated they would be likely to switch carriers due to poor network performance.

Clear connection while calls

“The findings of our first call quality survey demonstrate mobile users have high expectations for a clear connection while calls, and with 40% of American mobile users experiencing multiple dropped calls each month, it’s clear that carriers and handset manufacturers have a long way to go to provide the level of service that clients demand and expect,” says Rebtel CEO Andreas Bernstrom.

·     Men are 90% more likely to use a mobile VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) app as an alternative to their carrier’s regular calling service.

·     Men have a 20% higher response to being very likely to switch smartphones as a result of poor call quality.

·     Women are 47% more likely than men to use a text messaging service as an alternative to their carrier’s regular calling service.

Among smartphone users, iPhone users ranked last in terms of their likelihood to switch carriers due to poor call quality, followed by BlackBerry users, at that time Android users. iPhone users were as well the least likely group to switch smartphones due to poor call quality, with in broad outline 30% stating they are not likely to switch as a result of call quality issues, followed by Android, BlackBerry.

Overall, here’s how responses were broken up between iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and U.S. average, when asked whether they are likely or not likely to switch carriers due to poor call quality:

How responses were broken up between iPhone

Here’s how responses were broken up between iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and U.S. average, when asked if they were likely or not likely to switch smartphones due to poor call quality:

When asked which types of mobile apps respondents were most likely to use as an alternative to their traditional carrier minutes or data plan service, 34% said they would utilize a text messaging service and 32% said they would use a mobile VoIP application. Social networking apps ranked third at 18% followed by instant messaging apps, which garnered 16% of responses.

Bernstrom continued: “Based on the high incidence of respondents who expressed a willingness to switch carriers and devices due to poor call quality, I believe we will continue to see smartphone users turning to alternative means of communication, like IP-messaging and mobile VoIP apps, which are designed to optimize their connections and help realize continued savings on their mobile phone bills.”

*Note: According to the trade organization CTIA, there were in broad outline 328 million wireless service subscribers in the U.S. in 2011. U.S. Averages are based on all mobile users, including non-smartphone owners.