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.

Source: Thinkstock

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

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Source: microsoft.com

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

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Source: Thinkstock

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

Source: vonage.com

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

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Source: tracfone.com

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

Source: htc.com

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

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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

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

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Source: Wikimedia Commons

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

Source: Wikimedia Commons

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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Source: Wikimedia Commons

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

Source: Wikimedia Commons

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

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Source: Thinkstock

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

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Source: Thinkstock

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

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeepersmedia/

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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Source: Thinkstock

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

Source: Thinkstock

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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Source: Thinkstock

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

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Source: Wikimedia Commons

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

Source: Thinkstock

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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Source: Thinkstock

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

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kmagoon/

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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Source: Wikimedia Commons

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

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Source: Wikimedia Commons

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

Source: Thinkstock

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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Source: Wikimedia Commons

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

Source: Thinkstock

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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Source: Wikimedia Commons

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

Source: Thinkstock

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

Source: suddenlink.com

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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Source: Thinkstock

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

Source: Thinkstock

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

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Source: Thinkstock

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

Source: suddenlink.com

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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Source: Thinkstock

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

Source: Thinkstock

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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Source: Thinkstock

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

Source: Thinkstock

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

Source: Thinkstock

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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Source: Thinkstock

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

Source: Thinkstock

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

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Source: Wikimedia Commons

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

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Source: Thinkstock

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

Source: Thinkstock

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

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Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dnhoshor/

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

Source: Courtesy of Mike Mozart via Flickr

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

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Source: Wikimedia Commons

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