Telemark, a leading market intelligence firm for the telecommunications industry, announced today that it has published a comparative analysis of the six core global service providers: AT&T GNS, BT, Cable & Wireless, Equant, Infonet and WorldCom. Its report Voice of the Customer: Benchmarking Satisfaction - International IP Business Service, based on 200 plus in-depth interviews with users, reveals Equant is rated 'outstanding' for network reliability, the single most important service attribute to multinational corporations. Additionally Equant is perceived as 'Best in Class' in 7 out of 8 service attributes that fall within the network performance grouping.
Trevor Howell, Report Author, points out that "though all the operators measured can justifiably lay claim to a reliable network, most struggle with providing a fast repair and restoration of service when faults do occur."
Users interviewed for this survey state that they are frequently left with unplanned and lengthy periods of downtime and that faults are often of a serious nature. "In some instances, for example, ISDN back up systems fail because the they are routed through the same network node as the tail circuits." comments Howell.
When users were asked about fault management operators received poor ratings, indicative of the widespread dissatisfaction with fault reporting and repair processes throughout the industry. WorldCom emerged as the winner in the 'Fault Reporting Process' category obtaining a rating of 'excellent' followed by Equant rated 'acceptable'. All other operators measured fell below the minimum benchmark level of 'just satisfied'.
Though Equant achieves the Telemark Gold Award for 'outstanding' network reliability, there is a small pocket of Equant users finding outages excessive and lengthy. These views are emerging along with the belief that Equant is becoming a premium priced operator, in which case it is critical that it retains the 'outstanding' rating for network reliability. According to Howell "Equant entered the IP arena early and now appears to reap the benefits of early entry and substantial development of their IP service portfolio".
Telemark's regular benchmarking survey is derived from telephone interviews with more than 200 IT and Data Network Managers who use international IP networks in 20 countries across Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. The performances of the six major global operators and local PTTs are compared in 32 network service attributes spread across six groups: Network Operation, Customer Support, Network Installation, Pricing, Meeting Requirements and Billing. These attributes are ranked in order of importance to customers and measured against benchmark targets reflecting minimum customer expectations.
About Telemark
Based in Manchester, England, Telemark, specialises in the provision of marketing intelligence for the telecommunications industry with a blue chip client base on both sides of the Atlantic. A comprehensive range of research techniques and robust methods are used to gather data thereby guaranteeing meaningful results that Clients can act on speedily. Telemark provides research, analysis, and measures to assist Clients find, win and keep customers. Covering all elements of performance from "bid to bill" our continuous information service helps Clients monitor trends over time and take more informed decisions on strategy, positioning, segmentation, product development, branding, promotions, sales channels, tariffs, and after sales care. Telemark's teams are dedicated to creating value through its off-the-shelf range of publications and by utilising web-based technologies for fast and accurate analysis of data and for instant distribution of results.
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