In the race for mobile performance, T-Mobile still leads the pack, but Verizon and AT&T are diligently narrowing the division. This is evidenced by the revelation in Ookla’s most recent quarterly market report. Despite a slight decrease in its median download speed from 164.76 Mbps in Q2 to 163.59 Mbps in Q3, T-Mobile remains far ahead of its competitors.
Over the same period, Verizon saw an improvement in speed from 72.61 Mbps to 75.68 Mbps. However, AT&T’s leap from 66.16 Mbps to 72.64 Mbps in median download speed is the most significant increase among them. Although Verizon and AT&T made small gains, it remains clear that there’s a vast distance left to cover.
These figures play out similarly in the context of 5G download speed results. While T-Mobile’s 5G network had a slight boost with a median speed of 221.57 Mbps in September, up from 220.00 Mbps, Verizon saw an increase to 153.79 Mbps from 133.50 Mbps and AT&T managed to reach 101.55 Mbps from 86.01 Mbps.
Casting shadows over these small quantum of solaces for Verizon and AT&T, T-Mobile also enjoys dominance in almost all other network parameters.
“Quarter after quarter T-Mobile’s network and its capabilities continue to lead the industry,” stated Ulf Ewaldsson, T-Mobile’s president of technology. He added, “Others have been playing follow the leader and Ookla’s reports continue to confirm that T-Mobile is the leader.”
Supporting Ewaldsson’s claim, state-by-state measurements show T-Mobile leading in 44 states including the District of Columbia. Trailing behind, Verizon showed dominance only in North Dakota while the results for the remaining five states remained too tight to call a clear leader.
Additionally, T-Mobile scores in terms of upload speed and boasts networks with the lowest latency. However, the competition was tough regarding 5G latency, where T-Mobile (50 ms) barely beat Verizon (53 ms).
Significantly, Ookla couldn’t declare an unmistakable victor with regards to 5G consistency, with T-Mobile posting a score of 74.9% and Verizon close behind with 74.7%. AT&T trailed a little further with a score of 66.4%.
In a statement, T-Mobile couldn’t resist the opportunity for a touch of jest, posing a Halloween-inspired fright for AT&T and Verizon. No doubt AT&T and Verizon would rather they were the ones with the upper hand and the liberty to make holiday-themed puns.
