Cost Satisfaction Up but Rising Demand Puts Enterprise Internet Reliability at Risk, JD Power Finds

Overall business internet satisfaction rose 2 points to 709/1000 in 2026, according to the JD Power 2026 U.S. Business Internet Satisfaction Study. The slight increase in overall satisfaction is largely due to an 8-point increase in cost of service from 2025, landing at 682 in 2026. While small and medium businesses experienced satisfaction gains, large enterprise satisfaction declined. The large enterprise decrease is largely due to a 12-point drop in performance and reliability, driven by greater sensitivity to downtime and rising demand from tools such as artificial intelligence. This is fundamentally redefining reliability beyond basic connection uptime. Key rankings from the report include: 

• In the large enterprise segment, Verizon ranks highest with a score of 736. AT&T (732) ranks second. The segment average is 723.

• In the medium business segment, Verizon ranks highest with a score of 728. The segment average is 710.

• In the small business segment, AT&T ranks highest with a score of 686. Verizon (680) ranks second. The segment average is 659.