Qualitative research conducted amongst consumers and SMEs confirmed that several factors combine to determine overall perceptions of a provider in the communications services sectors, a number of which fall under the high level category of “Quality of Service”.
When asked to define what constitutes “Quality of Service” in the communications services sector, both consumers and SMEs raised several aspects of the service they receive from their telecoms providers. These fall into two high level categories: technical service (i.e. the performance of the service networks themselves) and customer service (including technical support, loyalty rewards and/or deals and product / package).
Further quantitative research conducted amongst consumers showed that it is actually the technical service that tends to be the more important aspect of “Quality of Service”. However consumers nonetheless display some interest in using information that covers aspects of customer service as well as network performance issues.
The detailed findings with regard to levels of interest for information on the constituent elements of “Quality of Service” are provided on a sector by sector basis in this Executive Summary.