FREQUENT CALLERS LIKE SPRINT BEST; LONG-DISTANCE STUDY LETS USERS RATE SERVICE.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

For the third straight year, Sprint was ranked the most satisfying carrier among high-volume telephone customers who spend $50 or more a month on long-distance calls, according to a survey released by J.D. Power and Associates of Agoura Hills.

But the Long Distance Customer Satisfaction Study, released this week, also showed that Sprint was rated only fourth-best among those who spend less than $50 a month on long-distance calls, with Southern New England Telephone finishing first.

The companies were rated in eight areas: customer service, cost of service, corporate image for honesty in advertising and ability to stand behind its claims, technical quality, sales promotion, billing, calling-card service and operator service, said Kirk Parsons, a senior manager for J.D. Power.

``(The survey) just gives people in general, and even business leaders in the industry, an understanding of how well their company rates against other carriers,'' Parsons said.

GTE, with California headquarters in Thousand Oaks, came in a distant sixth - last place - among the high-volume users.

Among other users, GTE was one of two companies tied for sixth-place among 10 carriers, according to the survey.

Only long-distance carriers or companies offering both local and long-distance service were included in the survey, Parsons said.

Customer-satisfaction surveys for local telephone companies, major cable/satellite television providers and wireless services will be released later this month and in September, Parsons said.

According to the report, Sprint customers in the $50-and-over range are happiest with the company's competitive pricing, the most important category for high-volume customers, Parsons said.

``In the segment for under $50, the importance shifts more toward corporate image - as opposed to the over-$50 guys - and (Sprint doesn't) perform as well in that area as some others,'' he said.

Ten companies were ranked in the $50-and-under segment. Only six were included in the high-volume rankings because samplings for other companies were too small for inclusion, he said.

The scores were indexed rather than scaled, so there was no maximum score possible, he said.

Among the high-volume users, Sprint scored 105 followed by AT&T at 104, Excel at 101, LCI at 96, MCI at 92 and GTE at 83.

Users spending $50 or less on long-distance calls scored Southern New England Telephone at 106, WorldCom at 104, AT&T at 101, Sprint at 100, LCI at 98, Excel and GTE at 94, Frontier and MCI at 93 and ALLTEL at 89.

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Chart: (Color) LONG-DISTANCE LOVE

Only companies offering long-distance