For the first time, T-Mobile wins Opensignal’s award for 5G Download Speed (5G User Experience Report, January 2021). Opensignal’s T-Mobile users saw average 5G download speeds of 58.1 Mbps ahead of AT&T’s score of 53.8 Mbps and Verizon on 47.4 Mbps. This represents the real-world 5G experience of users. T-Mobile users’ average 5G Download Speed has increased from 49.2 Mbps in Opensignal’s last report helping them to take the award from Verizon.
All three carriers see big improvements in 5G Availability
T-Mobile wins the 5G Availability award with a score of 30.1%, up from 22.5% six months ago. The other 5G carriers have also made impressive progress since Opensignal’s last report: the proportion of time our Verizon 5G users spent connected to 5G improved the most with a jump from the 0.4% seen in the last report to 9.5% and AT&T also saw an increase from 10.3% to 18.8%. The result is that Opensignal’s 5G users on all the U.S. carriers have been able to enjoy the superior 5G experience for more of the time.
The 5G experience is extremely competitive across states, except on 5G Availability
In 20 leading 5G states analyzed, T-Mobile had a clean sweep winning all of Opensignal’s state 5G Availability awards. Excluding availability, in 43% of state awards the honors were shared by two or more carriers, indicating a very close race. While it missed out on national 5G awards this time, AT&T came away with eight state awards and 33 joint wins. T-Mobile and Verizon matched their national successes at the state level. T-Mobile won the greatest number of state 5G Download and Upload Speed awards. Similarly, Verizon won the most state 5G Video Experience awards with six outright wins and 14 joint wins — AT&T was the main 5G Video Experience challenger to Verizon, jointly winning 14 states.
Verizon dominates 5G Video Experience
It’s a comprehensive set of wins for Verizon mobile video streaming on 5G. Not only does Verizon win the national award with a score of 64.9 on Opensignal’s one hundred point scale but Verizon also wins, or jointly wins, all of the firm’s U.S. state video awards. And, Verizon’s 5G users also have the best overall video experience across all mobile technologies as Verizon wins the Video Experience – 5G Users award nationally and wins or joint wins in each state as well.
T-Mobile also wins on 5G Upload speeds
Sharing photos and video on social media or making video calls all benefit from a fast upload speed. In the first 5G Upload Speed award, T-Mobile wins with a score of 14.0 Mbps ahead of Verizon in second place with 11.9 Mbps, while AT&T is in third place with 8.0 Mbps.
5G download speeds over 70 Mbps were experienced on all three carriers, but in different states
The different maturity and geographic focus of each carrier’s initial 5G roll out is clear from the different 5G Download Speed scores seen across states. The fastest 5G Download Speed across states on all three carriers was impressively over 70 Mbps. Opensignal’s AT&T users experienced 5G Download Speed over 70 Mbps in Maryland and Washington, Verizon 5G users saw such average 5G speeds in New York, while T-Mobile users saw average 5G Download Speed of over 70 Mbps in four states: Alabama, Illinois, New York and New Jersey.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, T-Mobile is serious about competing with Verizon and AT&T. See more in the full reports from Opensignal: 5G User Experience Report, January 2021 and Mobile Network Experience Report, January 2021.
IF T-Mobile is serious about competing with Verizon and AT&T, why then, do I have to rely on WiFi calling for my 2015 iPhone to work in 2021? And no, I don’t live out in the boonies. There is a T-Mobile store and cell tower two miles from my house. There is a major interstate within two miles from my house, lined with cell towers. Yet, in 2021, I’m still in a signal dead zone, but signal improves when I’m in my car heading up the street out of my neighborhood. T-Mobile, can I get a little love?