Even before the Verizon iPhone launched, pretty much everyone expected it to drop calls less than the iPhone on AT&T, which has become notorious for its network flakiness. Now a survey by ChangeWave Research shows us just how much better Verizon’s iPhone is at sustaining a simple phone call. 
 
 ChangeWave surveyed 4,068 consumers and found that Verizon iPhone owners dropped calls 1.8 percent of the time, while AT&T iPhone owners saw a much higher drop rate of 4.8 percent. Those numbers don’t seem to be iPhone specific: the company also found that network-wide Verizon customers saw a dropped call rate of 1.4 percent, while AT&T customers faced the industry’s worst rate of 4.6 percent. 
 
 The survey doesn’t tell us much that we don’t already know, but it’s always good to see our assumptions backed up by data. It’s unclear where ChangeWave actually surveyed cellular users — I know that if it took place in notorious AT&T fail zones like New York and San Francisco, its dropped call rate would be much higher. 
 
 iPhone users seem to be equally satisfied with the device on both AT&T and Verizon. According to the survey, 82 percent of Verizon iPhone owners were very satisfied with the device, compared to 80 percent of users on AT&T. 16 percent of Verizon users were somewhat satisfied, while 18 percent of AT&T users felt the same. 
 
 It’ll be interesting to see how Verizon’s iPhone experience compares to AT&T’s in a year or so. Right now Verizon only has a handful of iPhone users compared to AT&T. 
 
 Potential iPhone owners seem well aware of the pitfalls of AT&T’s network. The survey found that 46 percent of new iPhone 4 buyers will opt for Verizon, while 27 percent will go with AT&T (the other 27 percent still haven’t decided). 

 ChangeWave Survey Results: AT&T; iPhone 4 Owners vs. Verizon iPhone 4 Owners 
 
 April 5, 2011 A new ChangeWave survey of 4,068 consumers has taken a close up look at key comparisons between Verizon iPhone 4 owners and AT&T; iPhone 4 owners – including customer satisfaction and dropped call rates. The ChangeWave survey, completed March 28th, was conducted several weeks after Verizon began offering the iPhone 4. Among other things, the results provide insight into how owners believe the AT&T; and Verizon iPhones stack up against each other in a couple of key areas. Owner Satisfaction Ratings Now that both AT&T; and Verizon offer the iPhone 4, are there any differences in terms of owner satisfaction? The following chart compares the overall satisfaction rating of Verizon iPhone 4 owners vs. AT&T; iPhone 4 owners. In terms of overall satisfaction the two iPhones are virtually indistinguishable. A look at the Very Satisfied ratings for each shows 82% of Verizon iPhone 4 customers saying they're Very Satisfied versus 80% of AT&T; iPhone 4 customers. Before looking at the dropped call rates reported by each set of iPhone owners, here's a brief review of ChangeWave findings on overall dropped call rates for the major wireless service providers. Overall Dropped Call Rates Among Wireless Providers For the past few years ChangeWave has been tracking overall dropped call rates among the major wireless service providers in its consumer surveys. In the current survey, Verizon continues to maintain the best overall rating in the industry, with their customers reporting on average only 1.4% of calls dropped over the past 90 days. T-Mobile (2.3%) comes in second, followed by Sprint/Nextel (2.7%). AT&T; ranks last among the four major providers in the current survey – with its customers reporting an average of 4.6% of calls dropped over the past 90 days. Historical Perspective AT&T; has trailed Verizon in terms of overall dropped call rates since ChangeWave first began surveying on the subject back in September 2008. However, in our previous survey in December 2010 we noted that AT&T; had registered a significant improvement on this measure. And in the current survey of 1,264 AT&T; subscribers, their overall dropped call rate has improved once again, if only slightly (from 4.7% to 4.6%). At the same time, the overall dropped call rate among the 1,283 Verizon subscribers surveyed is now at its lowest level ever recorded in a ChangeWave survey (1.4%). iPhone 4 Dropped Call Rates – Verizon vs. AT&T.; The following chart compares the reported dropped call rates of Verizon iPhone 4 owners (1.8%) vs. AT&T; iPhone 4 owners (4.8%) in the current ChangeWave survey. Similar to the historical patterns in our overall industry findings – Verizon iPhone 4 owners currently report a lower dropped call rate than their AT&T; iPhone 4 counterparts. Verizon iPhone 4 Owners vs. AT&T; iPhone 4 Owners In sum, while the survey finds overall customer satisfaction ratings are virtually indistinguishable between Verizon iPhone 4 owners and AT&T; iPhone 4 owners, there are apparent differences in the relative percentage of reported dropped calls – where in the current survey Verizon is outperforming its industry rival. We note, however, that Verizon is still in the early stages of its iPhone 4 offering to consumers. It remains to be seen how well the Verizon network performs as the number of Verizon iPhone 4 owners ramps up and inevitably puts more pressure on their system. And in a sign of the magnitude of the ramp-up Verizon is facing, 46% of those who plan on buying an iPhone 4 in the future say they'll use Verizon as their service provider compared with 27% for AT&T.; 
 
 For the complete ChangeWave Report, follow this link. 
 
 Full report details include : Demand for Apple iPhone (AAPL), Motorola (MMI), Research In Motion (RIMM), Samsung, and HTC smart phone handsets, among others Customer Satisfaction Ratings by Manufacturer and Operating System – including a historical comparison of Apple iPhone vs. RIM-BlackBerry Planned Buying Trends by Operating System – Biggest Winners and Losers Comparison of Android OS Demand vs. Apple iOS Demand Features Most Important to Planned Smart Phone Buyers Growth Trends: Overall Smart Phone Market 
 
 About ChangeWave Research 
 
 ChangeWave Research, based in Rockville, Maryland, is an independent research firm founded in 2000. ChangeWave identifies and quantifies change in telecom trends, consumer spending & electronics trends, and corporate buying & business trends. This is accomplished through a weekly series of large sample surveys to its network of 25,000 accredited business and technology professionals – along with early-adopter consumers – working in more than 20 industries. To learn more, visit www.changewaveresearch.com. About The 451 Group 
 
 The 451 Group is a leading technology-industry analyst company focused on the business of enterprise IT innovation. The company's analysts provide critical and timely insight into the market and competitive dynamics of innovation in emerging technology segments. The 451 Group is headquartered in New York, with offices in key locations, including San Francisco, Washington, DC, London, Boston, Seattle and Denver. For additional information on The 451 Group, go to: www.the451group.com.
– The marketing hype is apparently true: The Verizon iPhone drops way fewer calls than AT&T’s, an independent study finds. In a survey of 4,068 iPhone users, those on Verizon dropped calls at a 1.8% rate, while those on AT&T lost them 4.8% of the time, notes VentureBeat. The results extend beyond the iPhone, ChangeWave Research discovered: in general, Verizon customers had a 1.4% drop rate, compared to AT&T’s 4.6%, the worst in the industry. Still, users on both services were similarly happy with their experience, with 82% of Verizon customers and 80% of AT&T customers describing themselves as very satisfied. And survey taker ChangeWave offers this caveat on the dropped-call results: "It remains to be seen how well the Verizon network performs as the number of Verizon iPhone 4 owners ramps up and inevitably puts more pressure on their system."