Have you grown tired of seeing the same reports conducted by the same independent analytics firms every three or six months yield the same general conclusions, results, and titleholders regarding the same aspects of your mobile network experience? If your answer is a resounding yes, you might want to pay special attention to the newest 5G tests performed across 245,000 miles and 6,653 indoor locations in the US by RootMetrics.
Those may sound incredibly similar to the nearly 2.3 million tests done by the same company across 125 of the most populated metropolitan markets stateside in the second half of 2023, but the crucial addition of rural areas to the research methodology radically changes its findings... and the overall 5G award winners.
Two gold medals for Verizon, one for T-Mobile, zero for AT&T
Yes, ladies and gents, it looks like we have a new US 5G champion, at least in the eyes of RootMetrics analysts. As if T-Mobile didn't have enough trouble dealing with customer complaints on about a hundred different topics of late, the "Un-carrier" also has to find a way to recoup its precious "best 5G experience" title from arch-rival Verizon now.
On the old methodology, Magenta claimed both the 5G availability and 5G speed category trophies in both H1 and H2 2023. But now Big Red is the big kahuna in the 5G speed section, while T-Mo has to settle for retaining the 5G availability title.
Verizon is the new US 5G champion, T-Mobile follows in second, and AT&T is dead last.
The 5G reliability prize, meanwhile, goes in Verizon's trophy room once again, which means that some things never change and AT&T is simply too far behind its rivals in all 5G aspects in both urban and rural areas to catch a break and put one in the win column regardless of methodology.
To be perfectly clear, Verizon's 5G speed victory is not the result of any technological progress, individual achievement, or major expansion the operator made possible at any point in the last year or so. Similarly, T-Mobile's defeat is not (technically) caused by something (in particular) it did wrong as it tried to consolidate that early lead highlighted in so many different reports since the advent of 5G in the US.
Instead, what's happening here is that 5G networks are approaching ubiquity stateside, and while Magenta's urban speed supremacy is unlikely to be overturned anytime soon, Verizon's rural edge is big enough to cancel that out and put Big Red in the overall leadership position. That's a problem T-Mo is obviously working on fixing for quite some time now, but it's unclear when (or if) that will happen.
Verizon's 5G availability looks like a bigger problem than T-Mobile's 5G speeds
Although Verizon is evidently the big winner of the latest US State of 5G competition, it's hard to look at the numbers put together by RootMetrics for the first six months of 2024 and not notice Big Red's massive disadvantage compared to both T-Mobile and AT&T in the 5G availability department.
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Put simply, Verizon's 65.5 score in that category looks shameful, and we can't help but wonder if perhaps that should have been better reflected in the operator's overall 5G rating. After all, what good is a blazing fast and even a super-reliable 5G signal if so many users in (presumably) so many places can't ac
quire said signal on a regular basis?
All three US carriers have key strengths and weaknesses in all three 5G categories.
On a similar note, it's important to highlight that T-Mobile and even AT&T are much closer to Verizon in the 5G speed and 5G reliability contests than Verizon is to T-Mobile (and even AT&T) in the 5G availability battle. While this is not sufficient reason to challenge Big Red's overall 5G victory today, T-Mobile (and even AT&T) could definitely build on that huge advantage, and together with 5G speed and 5G reliability progresses, go after the gold medal six months down the road.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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