Two New iGR Studies Discuss the Factors That Impact Churn for Rural AT&T and Verizon Wireless Mobile Consumers

Study Focuses on an Area of Interest for Regional Operators -- How to Trigger Churn of Rural Mobile Consumers From AT&T and Verizon Wireless


AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwired - April 06, 2016) -  Because the overall number of mobile subscribers is no longer growing in the saturated U.S. mobile market, service providers must lure subscribers away from another provider if they want to grow their subscriber base. This is equally true for regional mobile operators and national operators.

Many in the mobile industry want to know why mobile subscribers churn. In other words, what specific factors increase the likelihood of churn? How do network quality, customer service, price, advertising and promotions, and other non-mobile services offered by a provider affect subscribers' likelihood to stay with or leave their mobile service provider?

iGR, a market research consultancy focused on the wireless and mobile industry, has released two new market studies that answer these questions for two particular segments of the mobile market -- AT&T and Verizon Wireless subscribers in rural (non-metropolitan) markets. All of the results are also presented for a national sample of respondents, in order to provide a comparison between trends for all U.S. mobile consumers and trends for AT&T and Verizon Wireless rural mobile consumers.

"One of the most important questions surrounding the often-analyzed churn rates is why do consumers churn," said Iain Gillott, president and founder of iGR. "Through these two studies, we wanted to identify specific ways that a rural mobile operator might be able to lure subscribers away from each of the two national operators -- AT&T and Verizon Wireless."

In addition to looking at the possible causes of churn for AT&T and Verizon Wireless rural mobile consumers, iGR's two new market studies, AT&T Rural Mobile Consumers: Why might they churn? and Verizon Wireless Rural Mobile Consumers: Why might they churn? also analyze the recent churn rates for the two operators, the current churning behaviors of AT&T and Verizon Wireless rural mobile consumers and U.S. mobile consumers, such as how long they have been with their current and previous providers, and the mobile consumers' perceptions of the network quality, pricing and customer service of the four major U.S. operators. The data in the study is based on two web-based surveys of more than 1,000 respondents that iGR fielded in November, 2015 (U.S. national mobile consumers) and March, 2016 (rural mobile consumers only).

The following key questions are addressed in the two new market studies:

  • What are the churn rates of AT&T and Verizon Wireless currently and historically?
  • What percentage of AT&T and Verizon Wireless rural consumers and U.S. mobile consumers have been with their current service provider for less than one year? More than one year? More than two years?
  • What percentage of AT&T and Verizon Wireless rural consumers and U.S. mobile consumers have been with only one service provider?
  • How do advertising and promotions affect AT&T and Verizon Wireless rural consumers' and U.S. mobile consumers' likelihood to switch providers?
  • How do bundled services, such as AT&T's U-verse, AT&T's newly acquired DirecTV, and Verizon's FiOS affect mobile consumers' likelihood to switch providers?
  • How do AT&T and Verizon Wireless rural consumers and U.S. mobile consumers perceive the network quality, pricing and customer service of the four major U.S. mobile operators? How could this perception affect their likelihood to churn from their current provider?
  • Why do AT&T and Verizon Wireless rural consumers and U.S. mobile consumers who have stayed with their operator for more than one year do so? What, if anything, might make them change in the future?
  • How can a rural mobile operator get AT&T and Verizon Wireless subscribers to churn away from the national operator?

The information in these market studies will be valuable for:

  • Regional mobile network operators
  • Wireless and Mobile advertising agencies
  • Mobile service retailers and distributors
  • Financial analysts and investors.

The two new reports can be purchased separately and downloaded directly from iGR's website using either of the following links -- AT&T Rural Mobile Consumers and Verizon Wireless Rural Mobile ConsumersFurthermore, the two market studies can be purchased together at a discounted rate as part of the AT&T and Verizon Wireless Rural Mobile Churn Package.

About iGR

iGR is a market strategy consultancy focused on the wireless and mobile communications industry. Founded by Iain Gillott, one of the wireless industry's leading analysts, in late 2000 as iGillottResearch, iGR is now in its sixteenth year of operation. iGR continuously researches emerging and existent technologies, technology industries, and consumer markets. We use our detailed research to offer a range of services to help companies improve their position in the marketplace, clearly define their future direction, and ultimately improve their bottom line.

iGR researches a range of wireless and mobile products and technologies, including: smartphones; tablets; mobile wearable devices; connected cars; mobile applications; bandwidth demand and use; small cell and het-net architectures; mobile EPC and RAN virtualization; DAS; LTE; VoLTE; IMS; NFC; GSM/GPRS/UMTS/HSPA; CDMA 1x/EV-DO; iDEN; SIP; macro-, pico- and femtocells; mobile backhaul; WiFi and WiFi offload; and SIM and UICC.

A more complete profile of the company can be found at www.igr-inc.com.

Contact Information:

Contact iGR
Iain Gillott