USA
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumer mobile experience. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding the true experience consumers receive on wireless networks.
USA
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumer mobile experience. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding the true experience consumers receive on wireless networks.
Key Findings
T-Mobile users’ 5G Download Speed reaches 171 Mbps
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. 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.
Verizon and AT&T users saw 5G Download Speed improvements thanks to C-band deployments
T-Mobile is no longer the only carrier showing big jumps in users’ speeds as we have started to see the impact of C-band deployments on Verizon and AT&T’s results. Verizon’s score increased by close to 29.7% to 72.8 Mbps, up from 56.2 Mbps in our previous report while AT&T places third with a score of 53.6 Mbps, up 9.1% from 49.1 Mbps last time.
In 5G Availability T-Mobile tops the 40% mark
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.
Only Verizon users enjoyed a Good 5G Games Experience and 5G Voice App Experience
Verizon wins 5G Games Experience with a score of 76.1 points, ahead of T-Mobile and AT&T which scored 72.5 and 68.3 points, respectively. This means that Verizon remains the only U.S. carrier to place in the Good category (75-85). Similarly, in 5G Voice App Experience Verizon comes first with 80.7 points, ahead of T-Mobile and AT&T with 79.3 and 78.7 points, respectively. Verizon achieved a Good rating (80-87) and its two competitors placed in the Acceptable category (74-80).
T-Mobile maintains its lead in 5G Upload Speed
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.
5G Experience Awards
Market Overview
The availability of new spectrum is powering big changes in the U.S. 5G experience. 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. However, T-Mobile has had a large head start as it started to deploy 5G using mid-band 2.5 GHz two years ago in April 2020.
On Verizon the use of C-band helps to explain the double-digit improvement in its users’ 5G Download Speed this time compared with the Opensignal report six months ago. However, we saw a smaller change in AT&T users’ 5G experience because AT&T has opted for a smaller scale initial C-band launch compared with Verizon. It plans for a larger mid-band 5G deployment starting from Q2 — too late for the full impact to show in this report — in order to roll out both its C-band and also its newly acquired 3.45-3.55 GHz spectrum at the same time.
However, T-Mobile is not remaining idle and is continuing to advance the quality of its users’ 5G experience with rising 5G Download Speed and other measures. This is a clear indication that the carrier is pushing ahead on its plans to expand both breadth and depth of its mid-band 2.5 GHz 5G network. Also, T-Mobile announced the launch of commercial Voice-over-5G (i.e. Voice over New Radio or VoNR) in parts of Portland and Salt Lake City which will help improve the experience for users on its existing Standalone (SA) 5G network. And, T-Mobile ran a SA 5G aggregation trial combining three channels of mid-band 5G spectrum on its SA 5G network. These additional moves point to future improvements in users’ 5G experience once these initiatives are made widely available to users.
In this report, we analyze our users' 5G experience in the U.S. on each of the three national carriers over a period of 90 days starting on March 16, 2022 and ending on June 13, 2022, to see how they fared. While Dish has just launched its new service, it was too late to be included in this report. Also, we analyze how the 5G experience varies across 43 U.S. states, as well as in the capital, Washington, D.C.
We have published a companion report, which analyzes our U.S. users’ experience across all generations of network technology. We have also analyzed for the first time the mobile adaptive video experience in the U.S. using Adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), a technology that allows us to better represent users’ real video experience in markets where they can stream up to 4K resolution when on 5G.
5G Experience
National Analysis
Verizon wins the 5G Games Experience award with a score of 76.1 points on a 100-point scale, ahead of T-Mobile and AT&T which are in second and third place, respectively. Verizon again placed in the Good category (75-85), while T-Mobile and AT&T placed in the Fair category (65-75) given their scores of 72.5 and 68.3 points, respectively.
A Good Games Experience means that the gameplay experience was generally controllable and users received immediate feedback between their actions and the outcomes in the game. Most users did not experience a delay between their actions and the game.
Definitions
5G Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator's 5G network. It analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience was affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter. 5G Games Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
5G Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world. Calculating 5G Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games.
National Analysis
Our users on Verizon’s network had their best experience when using over-the-top voice applications while connected to 5G, as the operator secured a victory margin of 1.4 points over T-Mobile. Verizon scored 80.7 points, followed by T-Mobile and AT&T with 79.3 and 78.7 points, respectively. Given these scores, Verizon is the only operator to have placed in the Good category (80-87), while its two rivals achieved Acceptable ratings (74-80) for 5G Voice App Experience.
Definitions
5G Voice App Experience quantifies the experience of Opensignal users when using over-the-top voice apps — such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — on an operator’s 5G network. It uses a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. 5G Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
National Analysis
T-Mobile’s 5G Download Speed continues to show big improvements as our users on the carrier’s 5G network experienced average speeds of 171 Mbps, up from 150 Mbps in the previous report six months ago.
But our users on Verizon saw the biggest percentage points jump in 5G Download Speed with a 29.7% improvement since the previous report. Average 5G speeds rose 16.7 Mbps as Verizon users’ 5G Download Speed reached 72.8 Mbps, up from 56.2 Mbps six months ago, driven by the roll out of its C-band 5G spectrum. In the previous five reports, Verizon’s 5G Download Speed ranged between 47.4 Mbps and 56.2 Mbps indicating this report should mark a turning point in Verizon’s 5G experience.
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. This is the first positive change to AT&T’s 5G Download Speed score in over a year. Previously, its users saw their 5G Download Speed score drop from 54.9 Mbps in the April 2021 5G report to 49.1 Mbps in the January 2022 5G report.
Definitions
5G Download Speed shows the average download speed experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Download Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
National Analysis
T-Mobile keeps hold of the 5G Upload Speed award with a score of 17.8 Mbps, ahead of Verizon which places second with a score of 14 Mbps. The two carriers previously scored 17.9 Mbps and 14.1 Mbps, respectively, meaning that T-Mobile’s lead on its competitor remained unchanged at 3.8 Mbps. AT&T places third with a score of 10 Mbps.
Definitions
5G Upload Speed measures the average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Upload Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
Regional Analysis
Opensignal has analyzed the 5G experience across 43 U.S. states, as well as in Washington, D.C., to understand how the 5G experience varies across the nation.
Verizon wins 25 regional awards outright in 5G Games Experience, while sharing the award in a further 16 regions. By contrast, AT&T is the sole winner of 5G Games Experience in Delaware and Ohio, while T-Mobile achieves the best score in Texas. The two carriers are joint winners in a further six and 12 regions, respectively. Verizon achieved the largest number of Good (75-85) scores in 5G Games Experience (27) compared with eight for AT&T and 12 for T-Mobile. However, it was AT&T that achieved the only two Excellent (85 or above) scores we have seen in this category — in Delaware and D.C.
In 5G Voice App Experience Verizon collects 17 of the 18 outright victories we observe across the 44 regions, as AT&T edges out its competitors in Delaware. As for the remaining 26 regional awards in 5G Voice App Experience, 13 awards are shared by AT&T and Verizon, five awards are joint victories between Verizon and T-Mobile, and eight awards are shared across the three carriers.
T-Mobile dominates the regional 5G Download Speed award table as it wins outright in 43 out of 44 regions analyzed. In West Virginia T-Mobile and Verizon share the award.
Our Verizon users saw average 5G download speeds faster than 100 Mbps in five states — Rhode Island (121.1 Mbps), Minnesota (118.9 Mbps), Massachusetts (107.7 Mbps), Indiana (103.8 Mbps) and Michigan (103.8 Mbps). Our users on AT&T recorded their fastest 5G Download Speed scores in the 79.3-82 Mbps range in Maryland, Delaware and D.C. Impressively, T-Mobile exceeded the 250 Mbps threshold in the District of Columbia where it hit 252.6 Mbps.
T-Mobile also wins 25 regional 5G Upload Speed awards outright, T-Mobile and Verizon share a further eight awards. Verizon is the sole winner in the remaining 11 awards. Our users on T-Mobile experienced the fastest average 5G upload speeds of 32.8 Mbps in D.C. By comparison, our users in the capital saw average 5G upload speeds of 19.7 Mbps on Verizon and 15.4 Mbps on AT&T.
Regional Analysis Summary: USA, 5G Experience Report, July 2022
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A-D
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
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E-H
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
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I-L
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
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M-P
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
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Q-T
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
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U-X
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
in Alabama
in Alabama
in Alabama
in Alabama
in Arizona
in Arizona
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in Arizona
in Arkansas
in Arkansas
in Arkansas
in Arkansas
in California
in California
in California
in California
in Colorado
in Colorado
in Colorado
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in Connecticut
in Connecticut
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in Connecticut
in Delaware
in Delaware
in Delaware
in Delaware
in District of Columbia
in District of Columbia
in District of Columbia
in District of Columbia
in Florida
in Florida
in Florida
in Florida
in Georgia
in Georgia
in Georgia
in Georgia
in Hawaii
in Hawaii
in Hawaii
in Hawaii
in Idaho
in Idaho
in Idaho
in Idaho
in Illinois
in Illinois
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in Indiana
in Indiana
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in Indiana
in Kansas
in Kansas
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in Kentucky
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in Kentucky
in Louisiana
in Louisiana
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in Maine
in Maine
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in Maryland
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in Massachusetts
in Massachusetts
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in Massachusetts
in Michigan
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in Minnesota
in Minnesota
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in Minnesota
in Mississippi
in Mississippi
in Mississippi
in Mississippi
in Missouri
in Missouri
in Missouri
in Missouri
in Montana
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in Montana
in Montana
in Nevada
in Nevada
in Nevada
in Nevada
in New Jersey
in New Jersey
in New Jersey
in New Jersey
in New Mexico
in New Mexico
in New Mexico
in New Mexico
in New York
in New York
in New York
in New York
in North Carolina
in North Carolina
in North Carolina
in North Carolina
in Ohio
in Ohio
in Ohio
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in Oklahoma
in Oklahoma
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in Oregon
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in Oregon
in Pennsylvania
in Pennsylvania
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in Rhode Island
in Rhode Island
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in South Carolina
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in Tennessee
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Coverage
National Analysis
Our T-Mobile 5G users spent the largest proportion of time with an active 5G connection — 40.6% — making T-Mobile the winner of the 5G Availability award again. By comparison, AT&T and Verizon scored 18.7% and 10.6%, respectively. The higher 5G Availability is, the greater the amount of time that users were able to benefit from the improved mobile experience that 5G can provide.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
5G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 5G connection.
National Analysis
T-Mobile wins its fifth 5G Reach award in a row, this time with a score of 7.8 points on a 10 point scale, which represents an increase of 0.3 points since the January 2022 5G Experience report. AT&T places second with 5.4 points, representing a small 0.3 increase compared to January. Verizon follows at a distance, with a score of 3.9 points — a 0.2 points increase compared to our previous report.
Definitions
5G Reach measures how users experience the geographical extent of an operator’s 5G network. It analyzes the average proportion of locations where users were connected to a 5G network out of all the locations those users have visited. In simple terms, 5G Reach measures the 5G mobile experience in all the locations that matter most to everyday users – i.e. all the places where they live, work and travel. 5G Reach for each operator is measured on a scale from 0 to 10.
Regional Analysis
T-Mobile dominates the regional award table in the coverage section by winning outright all regional awards for 5G Availability and 40 awards out of 44 for 5G Reach. T-Mobile shares with AT&T a further three regional 5G Reach awards in Arkansas, California and Massachusetts, while AT&T is the sole winner of the remaining 5G Reach award — in West Virginia.
Our T-Mobile users spent the largest proportion of time with an active 5G connection in all 44 regions, with the scores ranging between 27.8% in West Virginia and 51.1% in the District of Columbia. By comparison, Verizon’s scores ranged between 1.8% in Maine and 19.2% in D.C., while AT&T’s spanned between 5.4% in Idaho and 32.5% in Rhode Island.
In 5G Reach, T-Mobile’s regional scores ranged between 4.7 and 8.2 points on a 10 point scale in West Virginia and Illinois, respectively, followed by AT&T’s scores spanning from two points in Idaho to 7.7 points in California. By contrast, the largest proportion of locations where our Verizon users connected to 5G out of the locations they visited were in D.C. and Delaware, where Verizon’s 5G Reach scores were in the 5.3-5.5 point range.
Regional Analysis Summary: USA, 5G Experience Report, July 2022
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A-D
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
-
E-H
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
-
I-L
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
-
M-P
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
-
Q-T
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
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U-X
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
in Alabama
in Alabama
in Arizona
in Arizona
in Arkansas
in Arkansas
in California
in California
in Colorado
in Colorado
in Connecticut
in Connecticut
in Delaware
in Delaware
in District of Columbia
in District of Columbia
in Florida
in Florida
in Georgia
in Georgia
in Hawaii
in Hawaii
in Idaho
in Idaho
in Illinois
in Illinois
in Indiana
in Indiana
in Kansas
in Kansas
in Kentucky
in Kentucky
in Louisiana
in Louisiana
in Maine
in Maine
in Maryland
in Maryland
in Massachusetts
in Massachusetts
in Michigan
in Michigan
in Minnesota
in Minnesota
in Mississippi
in Mississippi
in Missouri
in Missouri
in Montana
in Montana
in Nevada
in Nevada
in New Jersey
in New Jersey
in New Mexico
in New Mexico
in New York
in New York
in North Carolina
in North Carolina
in Ohio
in Ohio
in Oklahoma
in Oklahoma
in Oregon
in Oregon
in Pennsylvania
in Pennsylvania
in Rhode Island
in Rhode Island
in South Carolina
in South Carolina
in South Dakota
in South Dakota
in Tennessee
in Tennessee
in Texas
in Texas
in Utah
in Utah
in Virginia
in Virginia
in Washington
in Washington
in West Virginia
in West Virginia
in Wisconsin
in Wisconsin
Related Analysis
Our Methodology
Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile user experience on every major network operator around the globe.
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Confidence Intervals
For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple operator winners.
In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars.
In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.
Why confidence intervals are vital in analyzing mobile network experience