Service Quality
The company must also deal with negative customer perceptions concerning customer and phone service quality. The National Customer Service Ranking released in May 2011 ranked AT&T last among the top four wireless service providers, third (Behind Qwest and Cox) for fixed line telephone service, and third again (Behind Verizon and DirectTV) for subscription television service. While AT&T has made a conscious effort to address customer service complaints, there does not appear to be much of an impact on overall customer satisfaction, as survey results have not showed any noticeable improvement. This represents a serious challenge for the firm as the impact of low customer service scores in the wireless arena could spread to other parts of AT&T’s business.