Customers who have subscribed to a mobile telco for more than two years have lower levels of customer loyalty than newer subscribers, a developing trend that suggests loyal customers are feeling less appreciated. This was among the key findings of a survey conducted by the Institute of Service Excellence at SMU (ISES) in the first quarter of the year. The latest quarterly figures released by the Institute on Thursday put the Customer Satisfaction Index for the info-communications sector at 67.7 out of 100, up 1.7 points from last year. It is also the highest for the sector since the index was created in 2007. ISES Academic Director Marcus Lee said that the telcos should investigate why their older customers are becoming less loyal over the years. He added that existing research "suggests it is more productive for companies to retain and keep existing customers than expend resources to recruit new ones". ISES Director Caroline Lim said that this could be because telcos have been rolling out campaigns targeting new customers, neglecting the existing ones in the process.