- Verizon still has the highest NPS among fixed wireless providers
- Fixed wireless, in general, is trouncing cable broadband in terms of NPS
- The two main FWA providers — Verizon and T-Mobile — are still riding high, but over the last three months, the gap between T-Mobile and Verizon has narrowed
According to survey data from Recon Analytics, the net promoter scores of Verizon and T-Mobile for their fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband absolutely demolish the net promoter scores of Comcast and Charter for their hybrid fiber coax (HFC) broadband services.
Recon Analytics data comes from weekly surveys between July 7, 2023 to April 26, 2024, based on 126,807 respondents. The below chart shows the average net promoter scores (NPS) over the time frame. The scores range from -100 to +100, where a higher score is desirable.
“FWA’s numbers are off the chart,” said Recon Analytics principal Roger Entner.
However, he cautioned that there is a “selection bias” in the data because with FWA, people do their own installation, and if they aren’t happy with the service they can return the gear within three days.
“It works, and you’re happy, or it doesn’t work, and you bring it back,” said Entner. “We can’t find the unhappy people in the three days. When you have a terrestrial solution, cable, fiber or DSL, you are stuck with it for a while.”
NPS scores are a big deal. They’re closely tracked by management teams, driving the compensation of mid- and senior-level executives. As such, it drives product, pricing, marketing and investment decisions of operators, with these decisions ultimately driving market shares.
The analysts at New Street Research recently interpreted some of Recon Analytics’ most current data from the last three months, showing that FWA has higher NPS scores even than fiber.
In terms of specific companies, the top four cable operators have seen their scores improve from starkly negative to positive in the most recent three months. “The scores for the four companies are now surprisingly similar,” wrote New Street. “While clearly better, the scores are still a long way from good.”
The two main FWA providers — Verizon and T-Mobile — are still riding high, but over the last three months, the gap between T-Mobile and Verizon has narrowed.
Entner said even though Verizon’s scores have dropped a little lately, they are still “industry-leading” going from “awesomely good to still exceptionally good.”
