Canadian wireless users are becoming less loyal and are less likely to recommend their provider to others, a new study has found.

According to the 2009 J.D. Power and Associates Canadian Wireless Customer Satisfaction Study, users are also placing a stronger emphasis on handset device features over service plans when shopping for wireless solutions.

Lubo Li, telecom practice leader for J.D. Power, says more customers are looking forward to the entrance of new service prodivers into the Canadian wireless market.

“Our hypothesis is that with the introduction of new entrants, and with all the brands launching new technology with their smartphones, customers are waiting to see who has the best options before they make a commitment,” Li says.

An increasing amount of people – particularly young adults and dedicated smartphone users – prefer to go with a particular brand of handset over a service provider, Li says.

He says this may be a sign that phone manufacturers, software developers and carriers might need to work together in the future.

“There isn’t one-size-fits all,” Li says. “Previously, they would just come out with devices and then carriers market and entice customers to contracts. In the future I think that will be a less viable option.”

Virgin Mobile leads the customer satisfaction index for monthly plans with 758 points (on a 1,000-point scale) followed closely behind by Koodoo with 755 points.

SaskTel is third, followed by Fido, Telus, MTS Mobility, Aliant, Rogers and then Bell in dead last.

Li says the two leading brands have carved out a niche space in the market while Bell made progress despite being in last place.

“(Bell’s) number actually stabilized this year rather than continuing to decline,” he says.

Virgin also tops the charts with prepaid satisfaction, followed by Fido, Telus, Rogers and Bell.

Only 20 per cent of surveyed customers said they would renew their wireless service with their current provider this year, compared with 33 per cent in 2008.

When it comes to smartphones, iPhone customers are not surprisingly the most satisfied with Apple scoring 803 points on the scale.

Nokia placed second with 732 points, followed by BlackBerry, Samsung, LG, Motorola and HTC in last place.

Li says that although Apple and BlackBerry are the two biggest players in the smartphone market, Nokia’s products demonstrate that it has a good understanding of its customer’s needs and was able to score well.

But Nokia scored poorly when it comes to customer satisfaction regarding conventional mobile phones, possibly because they put fewer resources into developing those types of devices.

Sanyo takes the lead in this category, followed by LG, Sony Ericsson and Samsung. Motorola came in last, behind Nokia.