Verizon Wireless Leads in Performance But…

Verizon subscribers report that—on average—just 2.7% of their calls were dropped over the past 90 days, nearly a percentage point better than AT&T (3.6%), their closest competitor.

Sprint/Nextel (4.4%) and T-Mobile (4.5%) were third and fourth respectively. (See also: "Sprint Feels the Pain.")

Importantly, one-in-five Verizon users (20%) say they didn’t experience ANY dropped calls over the past three months, compared to 18% for T-Mobile, 17% for AT&T, and 10% for Sprint/Nextel.

In addition…

…43% of Verizon’s customers in the survey say they’re Very Satisfied with Verizon’s service. As the following chart shows, that’s also the best in the industry.

So is there a downside for Verizon in the survey?

Yes, and it’s a big one. AT&T is beating them in the most important measure of all—Market Share.

Among respondents likely to switch providers over the next 6 months, nearly a third (31%) say they’re headed to AT&T, while just 19% say they’ll choose Verizon.

The main reason for AT&T’s advantage is pretty obvious: the Apple iPhone. Ever since the iPhone announcement in January 2007, AT&T has claimed a lead over Verizon in terms of future share.

So while Verizon is clearly the industry leader in customer satisfaction, they’re faced with an uphill climb in terms of responding to the iPhone phenomenon.

Perhaps the new BlackBerry Storm will provide the market share jolt Verizon needs. For all of their network’s great performance, they’re still very much in need of a new killer phone. (See also: "iPhone vs. Blackberry: Consumers Speak Out.")