New Survey Shows 83 Percent of Consumers Continue to Rely on Landline Voice
Service for Its Quality, Safety Features
Verizon Survey Shows Vast Majority Plan to Retain Their Home Phone Service
Indefinitely
NEW YORK, March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- American consumers have a wide array of
choices for personal communication services, but, when it comes to their home,
an overwhelming majority -- including those who have a cell phone -- say they
plan to keep and continue using their landline home phone indefinitely. Most
often the service's proven reliability and safety were given as reasons in a
new nationwide survey commissioned by Verizon.
The telephone survey, conducted by KRC Research last month, polled more
than 800 consumers aged 18 and over who pay their landline phone bill. It
found that:
-- Eighty-three percent of the respondents intend to continue using their
landline home phone indefinitely -- a strong vote of consumer
confidence for landline voice service in a survey group that included a
large number of participants who also have a cell phone (74 percent).
-- Ninety-four percent of the respondents cited reliability and 91 percent
cited safety as the key factors for retaining landline service.
-- Seventy-six percent of landline phone owners use their landline phone
every day.
(Note: Downloadable graphics that illustrate key points of the survey are
available at http://verizon.wieck.com/.)
"These survey results underscore the reasons why we have a large and loyal
base of home phone customers," said Virginia Ruesterholz, Verizon Telecom
president. "Of course, Verizon offers a tremendous cell phone service too,
and these consumers see their wireline phone as a critically important phone
in their homes.
"For decades, the landline home phone has set the standard for unmatched
performance and consistent communications quality. The day-in, day-out
dependability of Verizon's landline voice service gives customers a deep sense
of comfort, so they maintain a strong commitment to their landline home
phone," said Ruesterholz.
Verizon's landline network processes more than 1 billion calls a day, with
99.9 percent reliability.
Consumers Value Voice Quality, Reliability and Consistency of Service
Reflecting the significant amount of technological improvements and
preventive maintenance that Verizon routinely performs on its landline
network, 92 percent of respondents said they are satisfied with their landline
phone service.
Ninety-eight percent of landline users consider their connection to be
reliable on a typical day, and 91 percent rate their connection as reliable
even on days when the weather is inclement. In 2007, Verizon invested $11
billion in its landline network, and has pumped $43.4 billion into its
landline network over the past five years.
Not surprisingly, nearly 100 percent of those surveyed said voice quality
-- audio volume, voice clarity and tone -- is important when making phone
calls, and eight of 10 landline owners said voice quality is very important.
Survey respondents included users of many different cell phone services.
Three-quarters (74 percent) said their landline home phone trumped their
mobile phone in terms of voice quality, reliability and consistency of
service.
Landline Loyalty Key to Verizon Bundling Strategy
In order to realize the most value for their spending, nearly two-thirds
of consumers -- including people who live in urban areas, younger adults and
those who earn more than $75,000 annually -- say they would consider bundling
their landline home phone with television, Internet services and wireless
plans. In fact, those who have both a landline and cellular phone are more
likely than those without a cellular phone to bundle their communication
services, the survey found.
"Deepening further the loyalty of our existing base of landline phone
customers is essential to our bundling strategy, which seeks to deliver an
array of top-quality services at value-based prices," said Marilyn O'Connell,
Verizon Telecom chief marketing officer. "These bundles are popular with
consumers who believe that cable competitors can't offer the same level of
reliability as we do with the traditional Verizon home phone service."
Verizon offers competitive pricing on bundles of broadband and
entertainment services including its High Speed Internet service, FiOS
Internet and FiOS TV, along with a convenient billing option for Verizon
Wireless customers. By year-end 2007, bundled services continued to attract
and retain Verizon customers, with more than half of all new customers
choosing a bundle.
Dependability a key quality of traditional service
Nearly half of the landline phone owners surveyed said they would feel
unsafe if their home did not have a landline connection, reflecting the
importance of having a phone they know will be ready to dial at a moment's
notice.
Typical reasons those surveyed gave for staying true to their landline
home phone include: "My telephone line is my lifeline." "That's the one I use
the most and it doesn't have to be recharged." "It's most ready in case of an
emergency." "It gives me security that I can reach 911." "When the electricity
goes out I can still use the landline phone." And, "I can depend on it 24
hours a day, 365 days a year."
The survey revealed that women, senior citizens, middle-income earners
($50,000 to $75,000 annually) and those living outside of metropolitan areas
are more likely to continue using their landline phones indefinitely.
Eighty-eight percent of respondents in the survey said they owned cordless
landline phones; 61 percent own a corded landline phone; and 49 percent own
both types. Consumers who use only a traditional corded phone in their
residence are more likely than those with only a cordless phone to want to
keep their phone indefinitely, and they could not imagine living without their
landline phone, according to the survey.
Eighty-seven percent of females, versus 80 percent of males, plan to
continue using their landline phone for the foreseeable future, whereas 90
percent of persons older than 65 said they will keep their landline phone
forever as opposed to 82 percent of those under the age of 65.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a
leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication
innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.
Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving
nearly 66 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations include
Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to
customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the
benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services
over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company,
Verizon employs a diverse workforce of nearly 235,000 and last year generated
consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 billion. For more information, visit
www.verizon.com.
VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches
and biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other
information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at
www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News
Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news
releases.
SOURCE Verizon Communications Inc.
Bill Kula, APR, +1-972-718-6924, william.kula@verizon.com, or Ellen Yu,
+1-908-559-3496, ellen.yu@verizon.com, both of Verizon
