Consumers’ opinion of the wireless industry improves

Customer opinion of wireless service providers is at an all-time high, according to the latest release of the American Consumer Satisfaction Index. ACSI, which rates satisfaction levels on a 100-point scale, gave wireless operators a score of 72, up from 69 last year, showing that the public is starting to place greater confidence in their wireless providers.

Wireless operators scored a 65 in 2004 when ACSI first started tracking the industry, but after a dip to 63 the following the year, customers’ opinions of their wireless operators have gradually improved since. Compared to the fixed-line telephone industry, which scored 75, wireless still has some catching up to do, but it has long surpassed cable and other paid TV programming providers, which scored 66.

Of the individual operators, Sprint (NYSE:S) showed the most year-over-year improvement, rising from 63 to 70, after scoring an all-time low for the wireless industry of 56 in 2008. Sprint now surpasses AT&T (NYSE:T), which improved 2 points to 69, after a down year in which network problems caused a backlash from customers.

Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ, NYSE:VOD), which has traditionally been the most well-perceived carrier, had to share its top rating among the big four operators with T-Mobile, which improved from 71 to 73 this year. Verizon saw its rating fall a point from its all-time high of 74 last year. But the biggest surprise were the gains made by smaller operators and MVNOs such as Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:LEAP), MetroPCS (NYSE:PCS), US Cellular (NYSE:USM) and TracFone. Though the ACSI survey didn’t break out the individual operators, as a group they recorded the highest customer satisfaction rating in the index’s history: 76.

Consumer satisfaction with their mobile phones improved considerable also, scoring 76, up four points from last year. The three specific brands ACSI tracked were a bit out of date, though. Nokia (NYSE:NOK), Motorola (NYSE:MOT) and Samsung all scored 76s, while phones in the "other" category rated 77. As for phones in use, CommScore found that Motorola and Samsung still dominate the market, but Nokia has started falling off the radar with less than 10% of phones in the market and shrinking. Meanwhile, LG Electronics now rivals Samsung in total phones in the market, and smartphone-makers Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and HTC are rapidly gaining share.