Special Report

America's Most Loved and Hated Telephone and Cable Companies

24/7 Wall St. Staff

Published: May 23, 2017 8:00 am

Last Updated: March 19, 2020 10:53 am

Greater competition and customer satisfaction are linked, and that is supported by the findings of the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index, which was released Tuesday. Over the 12-month period, wireless service was the only telecom industry to improve. There is plenty of competition in wireless, whereas pay-TV and ISPs have little competition.

Among its other findings, the report found some aspects of landline service — relegated to the dust bin of history — performed better than a year ago, including call quality, service reliability, fewer outages and faster completion of transactions. Also, pay-TV customer satisfaction has fallen and is tied with ISPs for the lowest-scoring of all 43 industries measured by ACSI.

The ACSI is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States. The index results are based on 36,194 customer interviews conducted over 12 months ending in April 2017. The scores are on a scale of 0 to 100. Revenue figures listed are for the service’s parent company, and are for the most recent reported year available.

Click here to see the most loved and hated telephone and cable companies.

1. Apple
> Industry: Cellular Telephones
> 2017 ACSI score: 81
> 2016 ACSI score: 81
> Net income: $45.69 billion

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2. Microsoft Mobile (Nokia)
> Industry: Cellular Telephones
> 2017 ACSI score: 80
> 2016 ACSI score: 74
> Net income: $16.80 billion

3. Samsung
> Industry: Cellular Telephones
> 2017 ACSI score: 80
> 2016 ACSI score: 80
> Net income: $19.59 billion

4. Vonage
> Industry: Fixed-Line Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 80
> 2016 ACSI score: 78
> Net income: $17.91 billion

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5. TracFone Wireless
> Industry: Wireless Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 77
> 2016 ACSI score: 75
> Net income: N/A

6. HTC
> Industry: Cellular Telephones
> 2017 ACSI score: 76
> 2016 ACSI score: 75
> Net income: $517.2 million

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7. Motorola (Lenovo)
> Industry: Cellular Telephones
> 2017 ACSI score: 76
> 2016 ACSI score: 77
> Net income: $560 million

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8. LG
> Industry: Cellular Telephones
> 2017 ACSI score: 74
> 2016 ACSI score: 74
> Net income:$1.16 billion

9. U.S. Cellular
> Industry: Wireless Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 74
> 2016 ACSI score: 72
> Net income: $49.0 million

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10. Verizon Wireless
> Industry: Wireless Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 74
> 2016 ACSI score: 71
> Net income: $13.61 billion

11. Sprint
> Industry: Wireless Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 73
> 2016 ACSI score: 70
> Net income: -$2.00 billion

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12. T-Mobile
> Industry: Wireless Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 73
> 2016 ACSI score: 74
> Net income: $1.46 billion

13. Verizon Communications
> Industry: Fixed-Line Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 73
> 2016 ACSI score: 72
> Net income: $13.61 billion

14. AT&T Mobility
> Industry: Wireless Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 72
> 2016 ACSI score: 71
> Net income: $13.33 billion

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15. AT&T
> Industry: Fixed-Line Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 71
> 2016 ACSI score: 70
> Net income: $13.33 billion

16. Fios (Verizon Communications)
> Industry: Subscription Television Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 71
> 2016 ACSI score: 70
> Net income: $13.61 billion

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17. Fios (Verizon Communications)
> Industry: Internet Service Providers
> 2017 ACSI score: 71
> 2016 ACSI score: 73
> Net income: $13.61 billion

18. Optimum (Altice USA)
> Industry: Fixed-Line Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 71
> 2016 ACSI score: 72
> Net income: -$656.1 million

19. Spectrum (Charter Communications)
> Industry: Fixed-Line Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 71
> 2016 ACSI score: 65
> Net income: $3.75 billion

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20. U-verse (AT&T)
> Industry: Subscription Television Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 70
> 2016 ACSI score: 69
> Net income: $13.33 billion

21. U-verse (AT&T)
> Industry: Internet Service Providers
> 2017 ACSI score: 69
> 2016 ACSI score: 64
> Net income: $13.33 billion

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22. Cox Communications
> Industry: Fixed-Line Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 68
> 2016 ACSI score: 68
> Net income: N/A

23. DIRECTV (AT&T)
> Industry: Subscription Television Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 68
> 2016 ACSI score: 68
> Net income: $13.33 billion

24. Optimum (Altice USA)
> Industry: Internet Service Providers
> 2017 ACSI score: 68
> 2016 ACSI score: 69
> Net income: -$656.1 million

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25. DISH Network
> Industry: Subscription Television Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 67
> 2016 ACSI score: 67
> Net income: $1.46 billion

26. Time Warner Cable (Charter Communications)
> Industry: Fixed-Line Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 67
> 2016 ACSI score: 64
> Net income: $3.75 billion

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27. CenturyLink
> Industry: Fixed-Line Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 66
> 2016 ACSI score: 68
> Net income: $626.0 million

28. Optimum (Altice USA)
> Industry: Subscription Television Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 66
> 2016 ACSI score: 66
> Net income: -$656.1 million

29. Suddenlink (Altice USA)
> Industry: Internet Service Providers
> 2017 ACSI score: 66
> 2016 ACSI score: 61
> Net income: -$656.1 million

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30. Spectrum (Charter Communications)
> Industry: Internet Service Providers
> 2017 ACSI score: 65
> 2016 ACSI score: 63
> Net income: $3.75 billion

31. Windstream
> Industry: Fixed-Line Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 65
> 2016 ACSI score: 65
> Net income: -$383.5 million

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32. Xfinity (Comcast)
> Industry: Fixed-Line Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 65
> 2016 ACSI score: 64
> Net income: $9.05 billion

33. Spectrum (Charter Communications)
> Industry: Subscription Television Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 63
> 2016 ACSI score: 60
> Net income: $3.75 billion

34. Suddenlink (Altice USA)
> Industry: Subscription Television Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 63
> 2016 ACSI score: 62
> Net income: -$656.1 million

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35. Cox Communications
> Industry: Internet Service Providers
> 2017 ACSI score: 62
> 2016 ACSI score: 63
> Net income: N/A

36. Time Warner Cable (Charter Communications)
> Industry: Internet Service Providers
> 2017 ACSI score: 62
> 2016 ACSI score: 66
> Net income: $3.75 billion

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37. Cox Communications
> Industry: Subscription Television Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 61
> 2016 ACSI score: 59
> Net income: N/A

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38. Frontier Communications
> Industry: Fixed-Line Telephone Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 61
> 2016 ACSI score: 67
> Net income: -$373.0 million

39. Frontier Communications
> Industry: Subscription Television Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 60
> 2016 ACSI score: N/A
> Net income: -$373.0 million

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40. Time Warner Cable (Charter Communications)
> Industry: Subscription Television Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 60
> 2016 ACSI score: 59
> Net income: $3.75 billion

41. Xfinity (Comcast)
> Industry: Internet Service Providers
> 2017 ACSI score: 60
> 2016 ACSI score: 59
> Net income: $9.05 billion

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42. CenturyLink
> Industry: Internet Service Providers
> 2017 ACSI score: 59
> 2016 ACSI score: 63
> Net income: $626.0 million

43. Mediacom
> Industry: Internet Service Providers
> 2017 ACSI score: 58
> 2016 ACSI score: 57
> Net income: $171.9 million

44. Xfinity (Comcast)
> Industry: Subscription Television Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 58
> 2016 ACSI score: 62
> Net income: $9.05 billion

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45. Windstream
> Industry: Internet Service Providers
> 2017 ACSI score: 57
> 2016 ACSI score: 59
> Net income: -$383.5 million

46. Frontier Communications
> Industry: Internet Service Providers
> 2017 ACSI score: 56
> 2016 ACSI score: 56
> Net income: -$373.0 million

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47. Mediacom
> Industry: Subscription Television Service
> 2017 ACSI score: 56
> 2016 ACSI score: 54
> Net income: $171.9 million