T-Mobile tops another speed test as mid-band spices up the US

The self-proclaimed un-carrier has come out on top yet again in the latest Ookla ranking, which measured various performance metrics during the first six months of the year.

T-Mobile notched up the fastest overall mobile speed of 234.82 Mbps, more than twice the speeds of AT&T (109.28 Mbps) and Verizon (103.11 Mbps).

The gap between T-Mobile and the rest is getting wider. Back in October, T-Mobile led AT&T and Verizon by 90.95 Mbps and 87.91 Mbps respectively. Today, it leads AT&T by 125.54 Mbps and Verizon 131.71 Mbps.

T-Mobile's lead is similarly comfortable when it comes to 5G.

Ookla found that its median download speed was 265.8 Mbps, way ahead of AT&T on 139.76 Mbps. With a speed of 207.79 Mbps, Verizon is doing considerably better than AT&T, but still has plenty of ground to make up to catch T-Mobile.

That's the nationwide picture, but at a state level T-Mobile still dominates, coming out on top in 45 of them. Verizon boasts the fastest network in North Dakota. Results in Alaska, Maine, South Dakota and Vermont were too close to call.

Drill down further to the 100 most populous cities, and T-Mobile's lead is similarly pronounced. It's top dog in 73 of them, compared to Verizon with six and AT&T at just one. Ookla said the race was too tight to call in the other 20.

It's not just speed either, T-Mobile also ranks first in terms of consistency – the percentage of a telco's data samples that meet minimum thresholds for upload and download speeds. It scored 86.6%, while Verizon and AT&T scored 83.3% and 80.8% respectively.

In terms of user ratings, it was another win for T-Mobile, scoring 3.7 out of 5, ahead of both Verizon (3.29) and AT&T (3.14).

"With this report, there should now be no doubt that T-Mobile has reigned as the nation's network champion for years," said Ulf Ewaldsson, president of technology at T-Mobile. "As 5G solutions continue to evolve, we will be right there, driving the industry forward as we have done since launching the first nationwide 5G network in 2019."

While T-Mobile's individual performance is undoubtedly impressive, what stands out in Ookla's latest report is the noticeable improvement delivered by all three of them.

Since last October's report, the median 5G download speed of the big three operators has increased by an average of 45.48 Mbps.

Ookla attributes the increase to the deployment of additional mid-band spectrum, which began in earnest earlier this year.

In a separate report last month, Ookla noted that T-Mobile in March gained access to additional 2.5-GHz spectrum it won at auction 108 in 2022. Similarly, AT&T and Verizon have both benefited from the recent early vacation of C-band spectrum by satellite providers. Furthermore, AT&T acquired additional 3.45-GHz licences that it won at auction 110 in January 2022.

"Speedtest Intelligence data shows a clear correlation between the release of additional mid-band spectrum, 5G performance, and consumer sentiment for 5G networks, with all three national wireless providers benefiting over the past six months," said report author Mark Giles, lead industry analyst at Ookla.

As a result, he expects 2024 "to drive renewed competitive pressure" between all US service providers, which can only be a good thing for end users.