Consumer Cellular has taken the top position in Market Force Information's 2026 Wireless Benchmark Study for a third consecutive report, leading the value-carrier segment and the wider US wireless field on overall brand performance and customer loyalty. Cricket also finished at the front of the ranking, according to the study.
The research drew on responses from 1,647 US consumers and represents the third wave of the programme, following data collected in 2023 and 2025. It measures provider experience alongside brand image, churn behaviour, device satisfaction and demographic trends.
Price gap mirrors different retail models
Average monthly bills varied sharply. Verizon subscribers reported an average monthly bill of $160.04, while TracFone customers reported paying $25.00. Market Force Information frames the difference as two distinct retail positions: national networks price on network ownership and subscriber scale, while value brands compete primarily on headline monthly price.
Consumer Cellular's brand performance score reached 72.3%, more than double AT&T's 34.2%. Loyalty scores followed a similar pattern. AT&T recorded 3.90 on the Customer Loyalty Index and Verizon 3.96, both below the 25th-percentile mark of 4.08, leaving the two largest incumbents at the bottom of the field.
Switching intent remains price-led
Almost one in five respondents, or 19%, said they were actively considering moving to another provider. Cost of service was the most-cited reason for a third year running, named by 12% of respondents, while 10.3% cited seeking a promotional deal. Network performance remained relevant: data speed and call clarity completed the top four reasons at 8.5% and 7% respectively, suggesting engineering quality still influences decisions as coverage differences narrow.
The behaviour of customers who had already left was more direct. Among former T-Mobile customers, 76.6% cited monthly service cost as their reason for leaving. Market Force Information describes this as a price-led churn pattern, visible in the survey as pressure on bills rather than an immediate rush for the exits. Most switching recirculated among the big three, and long tenure kept accounts in place well after satisfaction began to slide.
Sherri Weed, COO at Market Force Information, said the findings pointed to a structural disconnect between market dominance and customer satisfaction. She added that carriers with the largest subscriber bases were not delivering the experiences that create loyalty, and that this was a business risk, not only a customer-experience problem.
Service issues ease, hardware ranking shifts
Service problems eased across the industry, falling from 30% of customers in 2023 to 22% in the latest wave. Roughly one-fifth of the customer base still encountered an issue, a residue that lands on support teams and field engineering rather than on the tariff sheet, according to the study.
Hardware rankings also moved. Samsung finished ahead of iPhone in the study's Brand Competitiveness Ranking for the first time in its history.
The survey therefore presents a market where pricing and loyalty are not aligned simply with subscriber scale, while service quality remains a secondary but persistent factor in customer decisions.