The demand on internet use has grown in South Africa. This has prompted Internet services providers (ISPs) to introduce different data packages as means of luring clients to use their products. Competition is and has always been a common factor amongst ISPs thus users have been forced to go for a provider that best suits their needs.
As such, the SA Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) released its industry report on wireless and fixed-line Internet services providers. It conducted a survey of over 1,200 SA Internet users. These users gave the industry an overall satisfaction score of 67.2 out of 100. The SAcsi model intergrates three drivers of customer satisfaction namely customer expectations, perceived quality, and perceived value. The calculated customer satisfaction index is linked to two outcomes and these are customer complaints and customer loyalty.
The industry model can foretell the result of changes in customer loyalty with an immense scale of truthfulness.
In its survey, SAcsi included the following ISPs: Telkom, MWEB, Vodacom, Cell C, and MTN, selected by market share. Data concerning this survey was collected between January and March this year. The index also explored 3G and LTE users who make use of the Internet through dongles, routers, or via 3G/LTE enabled tablets.
Best mobile Internet services providers
Telkom took the top mobile spot with a score of 70.4 out of 100. Vodacom and Cell C were almost equal and par with the industry at 67.4 and 66.8 respectively. MTN scored below par at 64.5 out of 100.
A survey conducted suggests that customers said that all providers are performing close to the ideal wireless Internet solution. Telkom was the only provider that managed to surpass customer expectations in terms of overall quality and reliability. Vodacom, Cell C, and MTN were rated much lower than expected on the ability to meet individual customer needs.
Vodacom customers had the highest expectations in terms of two aspects: the overall quality of the service customers would receive and the expectation that the provider would meet the specific needs of the end user. Overall, customers did not have high expectations of reliability. Cell C and Telkom were regarded as providing better value for money than Vodacom and MTN. MTN’s service was rated as being the poorest considering the prices they charge for their wireless Internet service.
The supposed value scores of the companies calculated also showed that Telkom provided what was alleged as a good service at a good price.
All providers experienced high levels of complaints, with a third of all users saying they experienced a problem with their provider in the past six months. The majority of complaints revolved around the quality of the network and connection speed. MTN seemed to struggle with delivering their offering consistently and were regarded as being expensive.