Customers are getting the worst of both worlds, and they’re paying a steep price for it.
CBS News has learned.
The wireless industry is struggling to figure out why some people are getting worse service and others are getting better.
One of the most common complaints is that customers are getting slower speeds when calling their local telephone company.
A report released Wednesday by the American Customer Satisfaction Index showed the average customer with an average line length of 1,000 feet was getting an average of just 37.6 Mbps.
The average line for customers with a total line length between 100 feet and 1,500 feet was 37.7 Mbps.
Some consumers are getting a faster rate, but others are paying a much more steep price.
The index found that customers who call more than twice a week are getting an effective rate of more than 100 Mbps.
“People who are on the edge are not getting the speeds that they need, because they are using more lines,” said Bob McKeown, a senior vice president at Cox Communications, which owns the AT&T network and sells its own line.
The company is paying $4.99 per line to deliver service to more than 1.2 million people.
It has to keep offering the service to customers who want it because they can’t get service from other companies.
McKeoad said Cox plans to continue expanding its fiber optic network, adding about 1.5 million customers over the next five years.
McKeoad has been pushing customers to switch over to fiber.
In some markets, such as Atlanta, it’s hard to switch.
AT&, which is buying Time Warner Cable, has been able to offer service on fiber-optic lines, but the company doesn’t have a strong network.
That has frustrated many customers, especially in the South.
More: How to save money by switching from cable to fiber
