AT&T, Verizon Top J.D. Power Business Internet Rankings

J.D. Power officially swapped out "wireline" with "internet" in its latest study. And that's due simply to the rise of non-terrestrial sources of connectivity. Fixed wireless in particular is enjoying strong adoption among business users. AT&T and Verizon both view fixed wireless as a key complement to their fiber offerings.

"Wireline isn't necessarily your only form of internet anymore. You don't need a cable to your house or your business to get it. So a lot of the small businesses are starting to use fixed wireless as either an alternative or another source of internet as a backup to having a cable go all the way to wherever their business is," Lepper said.
In other news, low-Earth orbit satellite connectivity that is picking up steam among internet service providers and resellers.

In the enterprise category, AT&T led the way with an average score of 732. Next came Verizon at 716 and Cox at 712, which occupied either side of the segment average (714).

Lepper said AT&T's presence at the top of the list did not surprise him.

"They do within an outstanding job with their large enterprises, and they have for a long time," he said. "I would say the stranglehold they have is in the really big enterprises."

Spectrum Business placed fourth with 700, and Comcast Business scored fifth with 667.

It's worth noting that all of these companies scored in the 800s in 2023.

AT&T and Verizon have played tug-of-war over J.D. Power's medium business segment over the years, and AT&T came through in 2024. AT&T scored a 739, 31 points up on Verizon (708). Once again Cox (688) claimed third place. Next came CenturyLink (682), Comcast Business (674) and Spectrum Business (664).

The indirect sales channel plays an important role in driving AT&T's midmarket business. A recent shift at AT&T's placed AT&T's Alliance Channel and ACC Business programs underneath the midmarket organization.

In the small business category (19 employees or fewer), Verizon placed first with a score of 680. Next came AT&T and Frontier Business, which both scored 636. Spectrum, Optimum Business, Cox and Comcast filled out the final four.

Lepper said Verizon has been a consistent player in both the East Coast and in SMB.

"They win our residential stuff too, and they have wires in the ground on the East Coast, and obviously they have fixed wireless everywhere else," he said. "They kind of dominate. They own the Northeast. And if you think of the customers that are small business and or residential, Verizon's just done an outstanding job all around."

Lepper said J.D. Power changed its scoring model for small business to reflect the segments' unique challenges.

"Sometimes they're treated more like a residential customer. Their priorities are different, and their need for Internet is higher, because they don't have they don't have alternate options," he said.

The "performance and reliability" factor accounts for 28% of the small business score, compared to 17% for the larger segments.

"If a big company has internet go out, it's probably not the whole company that goes out, and they probably have a backup system and a couple other things. The little mom-and-pop store can't process credit cards anymore," he said.

That's one of the reasons J.D. Power added digital account management as a factor.

Dallas-based Frontier Business made a strong showing in second for the small business category. It was a big shift for a company that has often headed up the rear in J.D. Power's rankings.

Lepper said the company has improved significantly.

"They're really working hard on what they're doing. I know they're focused on the customer for the last couple years, and that was a big change in the company's viewpoint, and they're continuing to drive and try to get better with the customer," said Lepper, who has witnessed some of the changes as a residential customer of the carrier.

"They went through their challenges, and they were kind of bottom of the basement for a while, but they're trending up across the board. In business, we're seeing the same thing. I'm seeing Frontier do better and better. They're getting the prices under control, and they're giving a very good product, and that kind of trumps a lot of past challenges that they might have gone through," he said.

The satisfaction scores seem to put the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) above the cable multiple systems operators (MSOs). In all three segments, cablecos held the final two spots.

Part of their challenge is their sheer size, Lepper said. And that size includes various products that sit in various bundles and packages, he said.

"They just have so many different things going on. It's hard to focus in on the customer, and I know they are [focusing on the customer], but it's also moving a mountain," he said.

He said, however, that the cablecos are making improvements.

"Spectrum is getting better. Cox is getting better. Comcast is getting better. But they're getting better at so many things that it's not as evident on the business side sometimes," Lepper said.

Lepper said customer experience (CX) is a higher priority for internet service providers.

Asked where he sees those priority taking form, Lepper pointed to personnel hires.

"I'm watching all of these companies, really start to focus more and pay attention to and invest in CX executives. CX executives didn't exist five-plus years ago. And now they almost all have them. So there really is this transformation in the industry of the customer, and they all realize they want to get better at it," he said.

Channel partners, who function as a key business sales force for ISPs, have expressed worries to Channel Futures about cuts providers are making at the operational level and account management. In some cases, cuts to account management has opened up opportunities for technology advisors (agents) to access previously off-limits customers. But partners say they want to sell the services of vendors who will provide consistent support touch-points to their customers.

Lepper said, however, that partners should engage with these vendors knowing that the right aspirations are in place.

"Realize they all have the right focus; they don't all know how to get there, and they're at different places in their environment on being able to move on things. Sometimes they don't have the infrastructure to move," he said. "What I've seen is they need help getting there, but they want to get there. I haven't met one that hasn't."

Lepper said customer experience (CX) is a higher priority for internet service providers.

Asked where he sees those priority taking form, Lepper pointed to personnel hires.

"I'm watching all of these companies, really start to focus more and pay attention to and invest in CX executives. CX executives didn't exist five-plus years ago. And now they almost all have them. So there really is this transformation in the industry of the customer, and they all realize they want to get better at it," he said.

Channel partners, who function as a key business sales force for ISPs, have expressed worries to Channel Futures about cuts providers are making at the operational level and account management. In some cases, cuts to account management has opened up opportunities for technology advisors (agents) to access previously off-limits customers. But partners say they want to sell the services of vendors who will provide consistent support touch-points to their customers.

Lepper said, however, that partners should engage with these vendors knowing that the right aspirations are in place.

"Realize they all have the right focus; they don't all know how to get there, and they're at different places in their environment on being able to move on things. Sometimes they don't have the infrastructure to move," he said. "What I've seen is they need help getting there, but they want to get there. I haven't met one that hasn't."