T-Mobile is the speediest mobile network for downloading on both 3G and 4G.
The network handily beat out its competitors—Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T—in 3G downloading speeds, with an average speed of 3.5 Mbps compared to the 2.2 Mbps of runner-up AT&T, according to a new OpenSignal report. In 4G, T-Mobile squeaked out a victory over Verizon with a speed of 12.3 Mbps.
“T-Mobile has been bragging about the big coverage gains it’s made in the last year, and our latest batch of data shows T-Mobile does have a lot to boast about,” OpenSignal’s Kevin Fritchard wrote in a blog post. Sprint and Verizon had the slowest download speeds in 3G, while the slowest networks in 4G were Sprint and AT&T.
But while T-Mobile might beat out Verizon in speed, Verizon has the upper hand in coverage, according to the report. Verizon customers enjoy 4G coverage 87% of the time, while T-Mobile users are covered 81% of the time. Overall, 4G subscribers across the country saw LTE coverage around 81% of the time—a level that puts the United States in the top ten countries globally for 4G coverage.
