9/minute
DATA APLLICATIONS
Extensive
Good
Extensive
Poor
Extensive
Extensive
Extensive
FUTURE
Sustainable growth
Stagnation
Sustainable Growth
Stability
Adjustment to merger with Nextel
Adjustment to merger with Sprint
Stagnation
CUSTOMER
SERVICE
3.4 of 5, 24/7
2.9 of 5, 24/7
3.1, 24/7
2.8 of 5, differs
2.4, 7 AM to 1 AM
2.3 of 5, 24/7
2.9 of 5, 24/7
DATA
AT&T
VERIZON
T-MOBILE
U.S. CELLULAR
Re-SELLERS
SPRINT
NEXTEL
COVERAGE
Nationwide, weaker than Verizon and Sprint
Nationwide
Nationwide, but poorer than Verizon's
Excellent
Very Good
Excellent
Poor
CODE TECHNOLOGY
WCDMA/UMTS, GSM
Mobile Broadband, CDMA
T-Mobile Broadband, GSM
CDMA
Broadband
PCS-1900 CDMA, CDMA2000
iDEN - TDMA-based technology
QUALITY
Great
Excellent
Very good
Average
Average
Good, but significantly inferior to Verizon
Average, but growing
DATA RATES
$30 to $229
$1.99 per Mb
$39 to $59 per month
$30 per month per 20Mb
$60 per month per 5Gb
$59.99
$14.99 per month for Nextel Online
DEVICES/PHONES
Wide
Wide
Extensive
Poor offering
Limited
Wide offering
Limited
FEATURES
Rollover minutes
Only for businesses
USB 3G wireless access
Wide array of modems and plans
Dependency on providers
Sprint Business
Nextel Online
COST
Increased costs
Diverse, based on traditional or prepaid
Low, T-Mob is among the least costly data carriers
NA
NA
Diverse, strives to be competitive
NA
ROAMING
Good, partner with other GSM providers
Very good, partner with Sprint and Alltel
Very good
Good, partner with Verizon
Good
Very good, partner with Verizon Alltel and other CDMA
Good, partner with iDEN/TDMA towers
DATA APLLICATIONS
AT&T Video Share
VCast Mobile TV
Criteria for Final Decision
Despite the existence of a multitude of decision criteria, the prospective customer will only look at a few ones that he understands best and which are of the utmost priority for him. In this case, the most important criteria which will influence the ultimate decision refer to the quality of the services, the coverage of the signal and the retail cost.
7. Evaluation and Choice
The evaluation of the available options is based on the identification of the criteria which represent the utmost features of interest when making the final decision. Otherwise put, in order to most efficiently evaluate the alternatives, one has to look at the previous matrixes and assess the costs, quality and coverage of each alternative. Based on this assessment, it becomes obvious that the most suitable solution is that of choosing Verizon Wireless for both voice as well as data services.
8. Recommendations
This age of rapid technological development ensures the customers with an increased ability to select those products and services which best respond to his particular needs. Driven by rapid development, the IT sector has severely impacted the communications sector, part of which are also the wireless data and telephone services. The prospective buyer might be overthrown by the multitude of alternatives, but must remember that making a personalized assessment is the best way to go. In this order of ideas, it is necessary to identify the providers, and then establish judgment criteria. The providers must then be assessed based on the criteria and the final decision should be made in accordance with the criterion or criteria selected to have the utmost importance.
