T-Mobile US remains the frontrunner in all five overall experience categories, OpenSignal found
The latest Mobility Experience Report from OpenSignal reveals that when it comes to 5G reliability, the big three — T-Mobile US, Verizon and AT&T — all improved, with Verizon catching up to T-Mobile US.
Further findings suggest that T-Mobile US remains the frontrunner in all five overall experience categories, including 5G coverage experience, while Verizon continues to hold onto best overall coverage and 5G gaming experience. AT&T made out with just one win in the category of general coverage availability. However, it was only one point behind winner T-Mobile US in 5G Coverage Experience.
Of note, that when it comes to 5G availability, T-Mobile US’ score far surpassed that of Verizon and AT&T, with users connecting to 5G 71.7% of the time, compared to Verizon’s 10.6% and AT&T’s 14.7%.
Similarly, OpenSignal found that T-Mobile US users experienced download speeds as fast 158.5Mbps, making the carrier the first in the U.S. to deliver overall average download speeds exceeding 150Mbps. This number is three times those seen on AT&T in second place. Verizon, however, claimed that top 5G upload speed, with a score of 20.4Mbps.
OpenSignal Analyst Rupert Bapty commented on the pending spectrum shake up in the market more broadly: “Following the May 2024 announcement of T-Mobile’s agreement to acquire UScellular’s wireless operations, both Verizon and AT&T have inked deals to purchase UScellular’s spectrum holdings,” he said, adding that T-Mobile’s acquisition includes roughly 30% of UScellular’s spectrum holdings across the 600MHz, 700MHz, AWS, 2.5GHz and 24GHz bands. In addition, Verizon also plans to spend $1 billion on PCS licenses and spectrum in the 850MHz and AWS spectrum bands, while AT&T plans to pay $1.01 billion for spectrum in the 700MHz and 3.45GHz bands.
“As mid-band (1-6GHz) spectrum plays a critical role in 5G deployment, offering a balance of coverage and speed, these expanded mid-band resources will boost 5G performance across all three providers,” added Bapty.
