The latest J.D. Power and Associates 2011 UK Mobile Phone Customer Satisfaction Study shows that mobile phone customers in the UK are more satisfied with call quality, coverage and cost of service than they were in 2010.

Customer satisfaction with pre-pay and pay monthly price plans were measured for the UK’s major mobile networks, covering everything from call quality and coverage to tariff costs, customer service and the mobile phone itself.

Overall satisfaction is measured out of a maximum 1000 points. Pre-pay mobile phone customers averaged 707 points in 2011, 18 points up from last year. Customers on monthly contracts increased their score by 25 points to an average of 698.

The biggest improvements were noted in call quality, coverage and cost.

Stuart Crawford-Browne, director of service industries at JD Power and Associates, said “The industry has made notable gains in strengthening network infrastructure and has managed to do so without raising service costs, which is undoubtedly good news for customers. However, as adoption of data-intensive smartphones increases, it will be interesting to see how well providers keep up with pressure on networks, and whether price increases and caps on data usage will ensue. These could curtail the positive momentum on overall satisfaction that has developed during the past couple of years.”

Tesco Mobile retained its lead among pre-pay providers with a score of 742, followed by O2 and Vodafone.

It also led the ‘pay monthly’ segment with a score of 741, followed by O2 in second place with 718. Next came T-Mobile and Virgin Media, in a tie with 703 points each.

The study also notes that the number of mobile phone users who contacted customer service has dropped. 14% of prepay customers contacted customer service in 2011, down from 22%; while 39% of pay monthly customers wanted help, down from 55% in 2010.