Verizon Wireless,
the second-largest cellular carrier,
had the lowest rate of complaints,
1.4 per 100,000 customers.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/fcc_cell_complaints.html
Cingular Tops Cell Phone Complaint List

March 29, 2005
Cingular Wireless,
which acquired AT&T Wireless last October,
had the highest rate of complaints filed
with the Federal Communications Commission
during the last quarter of 2004,
The Wall Street Journal reported.

Cingular,
which now serves more
than 50 million customers,
generated 4.6 complaints
per 100,000 customers,

followed by T-Mobile USA with
4.3 and Sprint with 3.6. Nextel,
which plans to merge with Sprint,
generated 2.3 complaints per customer

and Verizon Wireless,
the second-largest cellular carrier,
had the lowest rate of complaints,
1.4 per 100,000 customers.

The Journal filed a Freedom of Information
Act request to obtain the complaint figures
from the FCC.

The commission provided the total
complaint figures; the Journal
calculated the complaint rate.

ConsumerAffairs.Com Cell Phone Complaints

Carrier
Complaints

Cingular/AT&T
534

Sprint
216

T-Mobile
195

Verizon
170

Nextel
108

Complaints filed with ConsumerAffairs.Com
in the last 12 months -- raw numbers,
not weighted to reflect market share.

Complaints filed with ConsumerAffairs.Com
for the last 12 months also show a much higher
number of complaints for Cingular and AT&T Wireless --
534,

more than twice as many as
second-place Sprint's 216,
as shown in the table to the right.

Mergers of telecommunications units
are always troublesome for customers,
although Cingular insists its merger
with AT&T Wireless has been relatively
trouble-free.

But consumers are less than pleased with
cell phone service in general. Consumers
Union said cell phone complaints were up
nearly 38 percent in 2004 compared with
the year before.

The increase was greater than the
14 percent growth in subscribers.

Consumers Union noted that cell phone
service has a lower level of overall
customer satisfaction than services
such as hotels, retail outlets and insurance.

Consumers complain mostly about dropped calls,
billing problems and spotty coverage.