5G Speeds Are Getting Faster Than Ever
The 5G networks of all three major carriers in the United States have gotten faster over time.
The 5G networks of all three major carriers in the United States have gotten faster over time, according to a report issued this week by OpenSignal.
“The availability of new spectrum is powering big changes in the U.S. 5G experience,” the report said. “With the launch of C-band in January 2022, all three U.S. carriers are now using mid-band 5G spectrum to enhance their users’ 5G experience, and Opensignal has already observed visible improvements in experience where C-band is available.”
According to OpenSignal’s “5G Experience Awards,” Verizon won for 5G Games Experience and 5G Voice App Experience, while T-Mobile won four other categories, for 5G Download speed, 5G upload speed, 5G availability, and 4G reach.
AT&T did not win in any categories.
In the 5G Download Speed category, T-Mobile won by a lot, with a score of 171 Mbps, followed by Verizon with 72.8 and AT&T with 53.6.
“T-Mobile wins the 5G Download Speed award for the sixth time in a row, increasing once again its lead on Verizon and AT&T,” the reports said. “While in the previous 5G Experience report our T-Mobile users saw an impressive 93.9 Mbps faster speeds over users on other operators, this time T-Mobile scored over 98 Mbps ahead of its competitors.”
AT&T, however, has shown improvements.
“AT&T users are also starting to see speed benefits from the carrier’s C-band launch as its 5G Download Speed score improved by 4.5 Mbps (9.1%) to reach 53.6 Mbps,” OpenSignal said.
As for upload speeds, T-Mobile also notched its sixth straight win.
“T-Mobile wins the 5G Upload Speed award for the sixth time in a row with a score of 17.8 Mbps, ahead of second placed Verizon which scored 14 Mbps. AT&T follows behind in third place with its users seeing a 10 Mbps score. This means that T-Mobile’s lead on Verizon remained the same as in our previous report — 3.8 Mbps.”
On the availability category, T-Mobile won as well, getting above the 40 percent mark ahead of its rivals.
“T-Mobile maintains a large advantage in both measures of 5G’s extent — 5G Availability and 5G Reach. Our T-Mobile users spent 40.6% of the time with an active 5G connection compared with 18.7% for AT&T users and 10.6% on Verizon. Similarly, T-Mobile wins 5G Reach with a score of 7.8 on a 10 point scale, over two points ahead of its nearest rival AT&T which scored 5.4. 5G Reach represents the proportion of locations a 5G user visits that have a 5G signal,” Open Signal said.
Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.