According to the latest television consumer satisfaction study by JD Powers and Associates, AT&T U-verse ranks highest in customer satisfaction among all TV carriers in three geographical regions, while Verizon FiOS ranks highest in one region. AT&T U-verse ranked the highest in the North Central (with an index score of 730), West (697) and South (706) regions. Meanwhile, Verizon FiOS ranks highest in the East region (also see the JD Power press release and companion article).

According to JD Power, the study was conducted in July of this year and asked 18,938 U.S. households for their thoughts on their cable, satellite or IPTV provider. "It’s the first time an IPTV service has ranked highest in the annual survey – an indication of just how the TV market is changing," AT&T spokesman Brad Mays tells me. This is the first year both U-Verse and FiOS (which technically isn't IPTV) have appeared in the same study.

As is often the case in these kinds of studies, both Comcast and Charter battle for last place in all four geographic regions, despite repeated promises to shore up satisfaction. The telcos' high scores are thanks to a quality product, but also because customers were happy with the bundle and introductory promotions being offered by the two baby bells, which are heavily using promotions to break into the market. The fact that both carriers have fewer customers to support probably helps support satisfaction scores as well. Some additional factoids from the study:Hopefully as FiOS and U-Verse expand into new markets, the competitive pressure will result in cable operators with traditionally low customer satisfaction ratings shoring up their game. Who knows, the added competition (at least in major markets) may ultimately even lead to something unheard of in the cable TV industry: lower prices. Or not -- carriers have so far engaged in non-price competition, the telcos raising prices right alongside cable operators.