TELECOMMUNICATIONS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION RESILIENT DURING TURBULENT TIMES

Sydney, 5 June 2020: Despite significant impacts on telecommunications services and infrastructure, customer satisfaction has remained steady over the past 3 quarters, according to a Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction survey published today by Communications Alliance.

The most recent three waves of the survey – undertaken on a regular basis since 2013 – took place in October 2019, January 2020 and April 2020, and thus reflect the impacts of the floods and bushfires on telecommunications infrastructure, and the increased network demand generated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The percentage of surveyed telecommunications customers who were satisfied/neutral about their overall customer experience remained steady. Having been 83-84% in the 4 quarters prior, it was 83%, 82%, and 83% for Oct 2019, Jan 2020 and April 2020, respectively.

The survey also examines specific aspects of the customer experience, with positive results across many of these measures in the 3 most recent quarters.

Results showed an increase in satisfaction with ease of contacting the telco provider, at 83% in Oct 2019 and 81% in Jan 2020 (in comparison to 74% and 76% in the 2 quarters prior), while the  impacts of COVID-19 on customer contact and support centres were reflected by a dip in April 2020 to 77%.

The survey revealed high rates of customers who were satisfied/neutral with:

• ease of understanding information on the bills, with an all-time high of 90% in Jan 2020, and:
• information provided at point of sale, with all-time highs at 89% for both Oct 2019 and Jan 2020.

These three quarters also saw the lowest rate of customers receiving an unexpectedly high bill, with all three quarters at 21%.

Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton said: “We know that the impacts of the natural disasters and pandemic seen over the past months have been disruptive for customers and service providers alike. Telcos have worked effectively to keep Australians connected through these challenges, and these efforts are reflected in the results of these surveys.”

The reports are available on Communications Alliance’s website:

• Oct 2019 (Wave 24)
• Jan 2020 (Wave 25)
• April 2020 (Wave 26)