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  Press information

- Finnish Internet operators 2006 according to the EPSI Rating
Customer Satisfaction Study

• Among the big Internet operators best satisfaction scores again to Finnet
• Sonera and Elisa are suffering from low corporate images
• Customers' loyalty is increasing although satisfaction is decreasing
• One third of Finns had a reason to complain to their Internet operator
• 18 % of Finns have tried Skype or other IP-based phone calling

These are some of the results from the latest EPSI Rating study concerning private customers' satisfaction with their home Internet connections in Finland. The interviews were done in October 2006.The same study has been done also in Sweden.

In all EPSI Rating studies, the customer satisfaction index is the most central measurement. It can take values between 0 and 100 where 100 means that all customers are very satisfied. However, other measurements are included as well. These are known as important drivers and consist of company images, customer expectations, product and service quality, value for money. These drivers together with customer satisfaction result in customer loyalty.

Among the big operators best satisfaction scores again to Finnet

The broadband operator market was measured for the first time in Finland in 2005. Results concerning customers' satisfaction with their home Internet connections are below.

The best satisfaction scores were given to group "Other operators". Inside the group, the variation of satisfaction scores was very large among the operators. The best satisfaction scores in the "Other operators" group were given to Welho.

Concerning the three big Internet operators, Elisa, Finnet and Sonera, just as last year, Finnet received the best satisfaction scores, now with an index of 67.5. Next, became Sonera and Elisa with indexes of 63.5 and 63.2. When comparing to last year, all big Internet operators received lower scores than last year.

When the reasons for the differences in customers' satisfaction among the big operators were examined, Finnet seemed to receive the best scores from all aspects of consumer decision making process: corporate image, customers´ expectations, technical and service quality, value for money, satisfaction and loyalty. See below.

Sonera and Elisa are suffering from low corporate images

From the figure above, it can be seen that Sonera and Elisa are both suffering from low corporate images. Profiles of Sonera and Elisa seem to follow each other in each aspect.

Concerning technical and service quality and especially the installation of the new Internet connection, Elisa received the lowest scores among the operators from its customers. On the scale from 1-10, Elisa received an average of 6.9 for its installation work.

Customer loyalty is increasing although satisfaction is decreasing

Although, private customers' satisfaction with their Internet operator has decreased from last year, their loyalty index has increased. It indicates that customers do not want to change their Internet operator as directly as earlier. The results concerning private customers' loyalty indexes to the big Internet operators are presented below.

Last year, Internet customers' loyalty index was 66.3 and is now 67.2. However, Internet customers' loyalty index is still lower than, for example, customers' loyalty to their mobile operator connection (70.8).

Finnet seems to have the most loyal private Internet customers in Finland with a loyalty index of (70.4). Sonera has also increased it private Internet customer loyalty considerably, although its loyalty index is still much lower than Finnet's (66.1). Elisa seems to be the only operator whose private Internet customers' loyalty index has decreased from last year and is now as low as 64.0.

One third of home Internet users had reasons to complain to their operator

Totally, 34 per cent of all home Internet users said that, during the last year, they have had at least one reason to complain to their Internet operator. However, one third of them did not bother to complain to their operator.

In Elisa, totally 16 % of all of its customers did not bother to contact Elisa although they have had a reason for complaining during the last year. In Sonera the share of those customers was 12 %, and in Finnet 7 %. It seems that Finnet's customers more likely also contact their company, if they have a reason to complain than the customers in the other big companies.

In the handling of complaints, the operators receive similarly low scores. The average score for the complaint handling was as low as 6.0 on the scale from 1 to 10. There were no statistically significant differences among the operators in their scores of complaint handling.

18 % of Finns have tried Skype or other IP-based phone calling

Totally 18 % of the Finnish home Internet users say that they have tried IP-based phone calls like Skype, and one third of them say they use it regularly.

Between different operators' customers, there were no differences in the usage of IP-calling. However between genders, there was a statistically significant difference. Men seemed to be significantly more active in IP-calling than women. Of men, 23 % have tried IP calling and of women only 12 %.

Although IP-based calling is very cheap, the average satisfaction score given to IP-calling was not higher than "satisfactory" 7.5. Among those who have tried it, 60 per cent said that they will increase the use of it and 40 % that they would not.

Customer Satisfaction with broadband operators in Nordic countries

Studies of the Datacom sector have been conducted also in Iceland and Sweden in parallel with the Finnish study. The diagram below combine some of the key results.

In Sweden Telia is in the top position together with Bredbandsbolget (owned by Telenor) and Com Hem. Among the three reported datacom providers in Iceland Hive is on top, and Vodafone in second position.
 
More information regarding the national studies are found through the EPSI Rating web-site (www.epsi-rating.com) and the links reported there..

 
The EPSI study

The data for the research was gathered by telephone interviews. The respondents were asked to evaluate the Internet operator they use at home. The respondents were selected by randomization procedures to participate to the research. Totally 250 customers we interviewed from each major operator.

This research is part of European Customer Satisfaction Research, EPSI Rating. It is coordinated by the Swedish Institute of Quality and the Stockholm School of Economics. European quality organizations are also backing the research. In Sweden, the same methodology has been in use since the year 1984, and it already covers a major portion of the Swedish economy.

In Finland as well, it is the intention to gradually expand the research to cover the Finnish economy. Next week, the results from insurance companies will be released. The research is coordinated in Finland by Dr. Juhani Kuokkanen.

For additional information, please contact:

Dr. Juhani Kuokkanen phone: +358 40 5093401, e-mail: juhani.kuokkanen@epsi-finland.org
Professor Jan Eklöf  phone: +46 7069 64185, e-mail: jan.eklof@epsi-rating.com
Dr. Johan Parmler phone: +46 8736 9247, e-mail: johan.parmler@epsi-rating.com