According to a Speedtest Market Report, mobile internet has seen performance gains, improving by more than 30% since last year with an average download speed of 19.27 Mbps in the first six months of 2016. The four major U.S. mobile carriers—Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile U.S. , AT&T Mobility and Sprint— are all closely competing for the fastest network, leading to improvements in mobile download and upload speeds.
Average mobile internet speeds are faster than they were a year ago, with download speeds up by 33% and upload speeds improved by 28%. However, download speed growth only improved by 5% to reach 19.61 Mbps during the first six months of 2016. Average upload speeds saw a slight drop of -% to 7.94 Mbps.
Download
FASTEST: Verizon Wireless & T-Mobile
Both Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile achieve download speeds faster than 21 Mbps, with nearly identical results. Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile have been highly competitive with each other for quite a while, with less than 5% separating their average download speeds since the beginning of 2015.
Upload
FASTEST: T-Mobile
T-Mobile takes the top spot for fastest upload speeds exceeding 11 Mbps, making them a good choice for consumers who are sharing lots of content from their mobile phone.
T-Mobile and Verizon still on top
T-Mobile has been the leader of upload speeds since early 2014. T-Mobile’s upload speed of 11.59 Mbps during the first half of 2016 was over 40% faster than any of the other major carriers.
When looking at tests conducted over LTE, T-Mobile performed the best with an average download speed of 22.11 Mbps. Verizon Wireless came in second with an average download speed of 21.32 Mbps. AT&T and Sprint followed with 20.05 Mbps and 15.80 Mbps, respectively.
T-Mobile trailed Verizon in LTE network coverage. Verizon was the clear coverage winner, with 98% of test samples from LTE-capable devices taking place on their LTE network. T-Mobile came in second at 95%, followed by AT&T and Sprint tied at 93%.
AT&T, Sprint on their heels
AT&T and Sprint were ranked lower than Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile over the past two years, though they have closed the gap in 2016. Over the past year, AT&T has increased speeds by 42%, while Sprint had the largest percentage-based performance improvement of the four carriers, increasing their speed over the previous year by 54%.
