USA
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
USA
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Key Findings
Verizon pulls ahead of T-Mobile for 5G Upload Speed
In the previous report, T-Mobile won 5G Upload Speed outright. This time around, due to an impressive increase in its score of 2.4Mbps (14.9%), Verizon wins gold for 5G Upload Speed with a score of 18.5Mbps — 0.3Mbps ahead of the previous winner, breaking T-Mobile’s streak of seven consecutive wins. AT&T lags behind its competitors with a score of 12.1Mbps, as T-Mobile and Verizon users’ average 5G upload speeds are 50% and 52.1% faster, respectively.
Verizon is the first carrier to win 5G Live Video Experience
Verizon wins 5G Live Video Experience outright with a score of 52.9 points on a 100-point scale. T-Mobile takes second place with a score of 50.3 points, while AT&T lags behind its competitors, scoring 44.1 points. Opensignal’s 5G Live Video Experience quantifies the users’ viewing of live video such as for sports events, game streaming, or music gigs.
T-Mobile's long winning streak for 5G Download Speed continues
T-Mobile wins 5G Download Speed outright for the eighth consecutive time, with a score of 195.5Mbps — twice as fast as Verizon users and 2.4 times fast as AT&T users. All three American operators observe increases in their scores, compared to the previous report — ranging from 9Mbps and 9.1Mbps for AT&T and T-Mobile to 11.4Mbps for Verizon.
Verizon keeps the remaining three 5G experiential awards in a firm grip
Verizon completed the trifecta of 5G experiential awards in the last report by claiming the 5G Video Experience award for on-demand streaming, on top of 5G Games Experience and 5G Voice App Experience. The operator does even better now, winning all three awards outright again, plus the newly introduced 5G Live Video Experience award.
T-Mobile continues to increase its lead over AT&T and Verizon for 5G Availability
T-Mobile is on a roll when it comes to rapidly boosting its 5G Availability score. T-Mobile’s score increased by 9.2 percentage points in the previous report and this time around, it rises by 8.2 percentage points, up to 57.9% — which reflects the percentage of time our 5G users with an active 5G subscription connect to 5G services. This is 2.8 times more than the time our AT&T 5G users spend on 5G and nearly six times more than Verizon users.
Verizon wins the most state 5G awards, but T-Mobile is top in 5G Download Speed and 5G Availability across states
Verizon leads the 5G regional award count, especially in 5G Upload Speed and across four experiential metrics — 5G Video Experience, 5G Live Video Experience, 5G Games Experience and 5G Voice App Experience. The bulk of T-Mobile’s outright 5G state wins are for 5G Download Speed and in 5G Availability where it achieves a clean sweep. Our T-Mobile 5G users in the District of Columbia enjoy the fastest 5G download speeds and connect to 5G services for the highest proportion of time in the U.S.
5G Experience Awards
Market Overview
In this USA 5G Experience report, Opensignal analyzes the 5G experience of our 5G users speed, experiential and coverage metrics. We also introduce 5G Live Video Experience in the U.S. reports for the first time — a metric that quantifies the experience of our users watching live events such as sports, game streams, or music gigs, over 5G connections.
Live video streaming to smartphones is becoming more common. Apple and Major League Baseball announced Friday Night Baseball would be exclusively available for Apple+ subscribers. Similarly, Amazon Prime streams live Thursday Night Football. There are numerous other live sports offerings now available. Other popular live streams includes game streaming and live music.
Verizon leads the national award count with five outright wins — on top of defending its three 5G awards from the previous report the operator seizes the 5G Upload Speed award from T-Mobile, after a sizeable increase in its score and wins the newly introduced 5G Live Video Experience. T-Mobile retains 5G Download Speed and 5G Availability, commanding impressive leads over its competitors for both of these awards.
More and more U.S. subscribers have access to 5G services. According to a statement from T-Mobile, its 5G network carried two-thirds of all its traffic as of the end of 2022. T-Mobile’s Extended Range reaches 98% of Americans (326 million), while its Ultra Capacity network covers 275 million. Meanwhile, Verizon announced that its 5G Ultra Wideband network provides 5G coverage to more than 200 million people, equivalent to roughly 60% of the US population and aims to cover 250 million people by 2024. Finally, AT&T stated that its 5G low-band network covers 290 million people, while the 5G mid-band — 150 million people.
UScellular has announced the initial roll-out of its mid-band 5G network, that will cover parts of ten states: Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. The operator intends to cover more than one million households with its 5G mid-band signal by the end of 2023 and three million households by the end of 2024.
In this report, we analyze our users' 5G experience in the U.S. on each of the three national carriers — AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon over a period of 90 days starting on March 16, 2023 and ending on June 13, 2023, to see how they fared. Also, we analyze how the 5G experience varies across 49 U.S. states and in the capital, Washington, D.C. In the regional analysis, we also include regional mobile network operator UScellular. We have published a companion USA Mobile Network Experience report which analyzes our U.S. users’ overall experience across all generations of network technology.
5G Experience
National Analysis
Verizon wins 5G Video Experience for the second consecutive time, with a score of 67.8 points on a 100-point scale for video on-demand streaming. Verizon commands a lead of 1.2 points over second-placed T-Mobile. AT&T comes third, with a score of 60.5 points — unchanged since the previous report.
All three national U.S. operators place in the Good (58-68) category for 5G Video Experience — meaning our users are on average, able to stream video at 720p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling while connected to 5G.
5G Video Experience scores account for adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), a technology that allows Opensignal to accurately represent users’ real video experience including video streams up to 4K quality.
Definitions
5G Video Experience quantifies the quality of mobile video experienced by Opensignal users on real-world video streams when they were connected to 5G. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate 5G Video Experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the video experience observed by our users on each operator’s 5G network on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
National Analysis
Verizon wins 5G Live Video Experience outright with a score of 52.9 points on a 100-point scale, becoming the first U.S. operator to be awarded this recognition. T-Mobile takes second place with a score of 50.3 points, while AT&T lags behind its competitors, scoring 44.1 points.
All national operators rate as Good (43-53) for 5G Live Video Experience, which means our users are, on average, able to live stream video at least at 720p with satisfactory loading times, little stalling and a substantial live offset. Live video streaming is used for watching sports matches, music, or game streams where the event is happening at that moment in time.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network. The metric extends the existing International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach used for Opensignal's on-demand Video Experience metric, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including live playback offset, picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived live video experience as reported by real people. To calculate live video experience, we are directly measuring live video streams from end-user devices and using this extension of ITU's approach to quantify the overall live video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
5G Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of mobile video experienced by Opensignal users on real-world live video streams when they were connected to 5G.
National Analysis
Verizon defends the 5G Games Experience award, with a score of 81.1 points on a 100-point scale, beating T-Mobile by four points and AT&T by 12.3 points. T-Mobile and Verizon rate as Good (75-85), which means most users deem the experience acceptable and do not see a delay between their actions and the game. Meanwhile, AT&T places in a category below — Fair (65-75).
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
Verizon wins 5G Voice App Experience once again, with a score of 81.7 points on a 100-point scale. T-Mobile takes second place, with a score of 80 points — 1.7 points behind the winner, while AT&T brings up the rear with a score of 78.3 points. T-Mobile and Verizon place in the Good (80-87) category — many users are satisfied, but some experience minor quality impairments — and AT&T rates as Acceptable (74-80).
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 wins 5G Download Speed outright for the eighth consecutive time, with a score of 195.5Mbps — twice as fast as Verizon and 2.4 times fast as AT&T. Verizon takes second place with a score of 96.3Mbps, while AT&T comes third with a score of 80Mbps. Our users on all three national operators observe increases in average 5G download speeds, compared to the previous report — ranging from 9Mbps and 9.1Mbps for AT&T and T-Mobile users, respectively, to 11.4Mbps for Verizon users.
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
In the previous report, T-Mobile won 5G Upload Speed outright — however, Verizon significantly whittled away at its lead. This time around, due to an impressive increase in its score of 2.4Mbps (14.9%), Verizon pulls ahead of T-Mobile and wins 5G Upload Speed outright with a score of 18.5Mbps. Its victorious score is 0.3Mbps ahead of the previous winner T-Mobile, breaking its streak of seven consecutive wins. AT&T lags behind its competitors with a score of 12.1Mbps, as T-Mobile and Verizon’s average 5G upload speeds are 50% and 52.1% faster, respectively.
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
We analyze the 5G network experience across 49 U.S. states (all bar Alaska), plus in the capital Washington D.C. for AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. On top of this, we include results for UScellular in 18 states where the operator offers its 5G services.
Verizon leads the award count in the regional tables of the 5G Experience section with 173 outright and 59 joint wins. It collects most of its awards for 5G Upload Speed and across four experiential metrics — 5G Video Experience, 5G Live Video Experience, 5G Games Experience, and 5G Voice App Experience. T-Mobile’s haul consists of 63 outright and 52 joint wins, with the bulk of its outright wins in the 5G Download Speed category. While AT&T and UScellular see no outright wins this time around, they both accumulate 12 and 11 joint wins, respectively.
T-Mobile traditionally dominates 5G Download Speed, winning outright in 47 regions and sharing the winners’ podium in one — with Verizon in Wyoming. Verizon is the sole winner in two states — Montana and North Dakota. Our T-Mobile users enjoy the fastest average 5G download speeds in the District of Columbia, of 255.9Mbps — and in 16 regions, our users on T-Mobile’s network see average 5G download speeds clocking in at 200Mbps or higher.
In the previous report, T-Mobile and Verizon went head to head for 5G Upload Speed regional awards, winning outright in 22 states each, while also jointly winning in five and four states, respectively. This time around, Verizon pulls ahead in several states and ends with 32 outright and three joint wins — while T-Mobile accumulates 14 sole and four shared victories. T-Mobile and Verizon tie in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and North Carolina, while in addition, T-Mobile shares the winners’ podium with AT&T in Vermont — which is the only joint win for AT&T in this category. In terms of the fastest 5G upload speeds in the country, T-Mobile in the District of Columbia ties with Verizon in Nebraska, with scores of 30.4-31.7Mbps.
Across four experiential metrics, Verizon wins outright in 31 states for 5G Video Experience, in 32 states for 5G Live Video Experience, in 39 states for 5G Games Experience and for 37 states for 5G Voice App Experience. It also comes jointly first in all the remaining states for 5G Games Experience and 5G Voice App Experience — and in all but two states for 5G Video Experience, the only exceptions being Hawaii and Vermont where T-Mobile wins outright.
On top of these two victories, T-Mobile jointly wins 17 awards for 5G Video Experience, 13 awards for 5G Live Video Experience, nine awards for 5G Games Experience, and eight awards for 5G Voice App Experience, while UScellular ends with three, two, one, and five joint wins, respectively, as it shares the winners’ podium for all four awards in Maine. Meanwhile, AT&T ends with two joint awards for 5G Games Experience, eight for 5G Voice App Experience, and one for 5G Live Video Experience in Maine.
Regional Analysis Summary: USA, 5G Experience Report, July 2023
-
A-D
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
-
E-H
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
-
I-L
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
-
M-P
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
-
Q-T
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
-
U-X
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
in Alabama
in Alabama
in Alabama
in Alabama
in Alabama
in Alabama
in Arizona
in Arizona
in Arizona
in Arizona
in Arizona
in Arizona
in Arkansas
in Arkansas
in Arkansas
in Arkansas
in Arkansas
in Arkansas
in California
in California
in California
in California
in California
in California
in Colorado
in Colorado
in Colorado
in Colorado
in Colorado
in Colorado
in Connecticut
in Connecticut
in Connecticut
in Connecticut
in Connecticut
in Connecticut
in Delaware
in Delaware
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 District of Columbia
in District of Columbia
in Florida
in Florida
in Florida
in Florida
in Florida
in Florida
in Georgia
in Georgia
in Georgia
in Georgia
in Georgia
in Georgia
in Hawaii
in Hawaii
in Hawaii
in Hawaii
in Hawaii
in Hawaii
in Idaho
in Idaho
in Idaho
in Idaho
in Idaho
in Idaho
in Illinois
in Illinois
in Illinois
in Illinois
in Illinois
in Illinois
in Indiana
in Indiana
in Indiana
in Indiana
in Indiana
in Indiana
in Iowa
in Iowa
in Iowa
in Iowa
in Iowa
in Kansas
in Kansas
in Kansas
in Kansas
in Kansas
in Kansas
in Kentucky
in Kentucky
in Kentucky
in Kentucky
in Kentucky
in Kentucky
in Louisiana
in Louisiana
in Louisiana
in Louisiana
in Louisiana
in Louisiana
in Maine
in Maine
in Maine
in Maine
in Maine
in Maine
in Maryland
in Maryland
in Maryland
in Maryland
in Maryland
in Maryland
in Massachusetts
in Massachusetts
in Massachusetts
in Massachusetts
in Massachusetts
in Massachusetts
in Michigan
in Michigan
in Michigan
in Michigan
in Michigan
in Michigan
in Minnesota
in Minnesota
in Minnesota
in Minnesota
in Minnesota
in Minnesota
in Mississippi
in Mississippi
in Mississippi
in Mississippi
in Mississippi
in Mississippi
in Missouri
in Missouri
in Missouri
in Missouri
in Missouri
in Missouri
in Montana
in Montana
in Montana
in Montana
in Montana
in Montana
in Nebraska
in Nebraska
in Nebraska
in Nebraska
in Nebraska
in Nevada
in Nevada
in Nevada
in Nevada
in Nevada
in Nevada
in New Hampshire
in New Hampshire
in New Hampshire
in New Hampshire
in New Hampshire
in New Hampshire
in New Jersey
in New Jersey
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 Mexico
in New Mexico
in New York
in New York
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 North Carolina
in North Carolina
in North Dakota
in North Dakota
in North Dakota
in North Dakota
in North Dakota
in North Dakota
in Ohio
in Ohio
in Ohio
in Ohio
in Ohio
in Ohio
in Oklahoma
in Oklahoma
in Oklahoma
in Oklahoma
in Oklahoma
in Oklahoma
in Oregon
in Oregon
in Oregon
in Oregon
in Oregon
in Oregon
in Pennsylvania
in Pennsylvania
in Pennsylvania
in Pennsylvania
in Pennsylvania
in Pennsylvania
in Rhode Island
in Rhode Island
in Rhode Island
in Rhode Island
in Rhode Island
in Rhode Island
in South Carolina
in South Carolina
in South Carolina
in South Carolina
in South Carolina
in South Carolina
in South Dakota
in South Dakota
in South Dakota
in South Dakota
in South Dakota
in South Dakota
in Tennessee
in Tennessee
in Tennessee
in Tennessee
in Tennessee
in Tennessee
in Texas
in Texas
in Texas
in Texas
in Texas
in Texas
in Utah
in Utah
in Utah
in Utah
in Utah
in Utah
in Vermont
in Vermont
in Vermont
in Vermont
in Vermont
in Virginia
in Virginia
in Virginia
in Virginia
in Virginia
in Virginia
in Washington
in Washington
in Washington
in Washington
in Washington
in Washington
in West Virginia
in West Virginia
in West Virginia
in West Virginia
in West Virginia
in West Virginia
in Wisconsin
in Wisconsin
in Wisconsin
in Wisconsin
in Wisconsin
in Wisconsin
in Wyoming
in Wyoming
in Wyoming
in Wyoming
in Wyoming
Coverage
National Analysis
T-Mobile triumphs for 5G Availability with a score of 57.9%, which reflects the percentage of time our 5G users with a 5G subscription connect to 5G services. T-Mobile’s score increases by 8.2 percentage points in this report, following the boost of 9.2 percentage points seen in the previous report. T-Mobile’s 5G Availability score is 2.8 times higher than AT&T’s result (20.7%) and almost six times higher than Verizon’s score (9.8%).
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.
Regional Analysis
T-Mobile repeats its feat from the previous report, achieving a clean sweep for 5G Availability, this time winning outright in all 50 covered regions. Our T-Mobile 5G users connect to 5G services for the highest amount of time in the District of Columbia — 68.8%.
Regional Analysis Summary: USA, 5G Experience Report, July 2023
-
A-D
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
-
E-H
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
-
I-L
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
-
M-P
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
-
Q-T
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
-
U-X
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
in Alabama
in Arizona
in Arkansas
in California
in Colorado
in Connecticut
in Delaware
in District of Columbia
in Florida
in Georgia
in Hawaii
in Idaho
in Illinois
in Indiana
in Iowa
in Kansas
in Kentucky
in Louisiana
in Maine
in Maryland
in Massachusetts
in Michigan
in Minnesota
in Mississippi
in Missouri
in Montana
in Nebraska
in Nevada
in New Hampshire
in New Jersey
in New Mexico
in New York
in North Carolina
in North Dakota
in Ohio
in Oklahoma
in Oregon
in Pennsylvania
in Rhode Island
in South Carolina
in South Dakota
in Tennessee
in Texas
in Utah
in Vermont
in Virginia
in Washington
in West Virginia
in Wisconsin
in Wyoming
Related Analysis
Our Methodology
Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile and broadband user experience on every major network operator around the globe.
About Opensignal
Opensignal is the leading global provider of independent insights into consumers' connectivity experiences and choice of carrier. Our proprietary insights into mobile and broadband networks give operators the solutions they need to profitably compete and win, from executive level scorecards and public validation to pin-point level engineering analytics and consumer decision dynamics.
Check how your internet connection impacts your favorite apps with the Meteor App
Journalists, please retain the Opensignal logo and copyright
(© Opensignal Limited) information when using this image.
This image may not be used for any commercial purpose, including use in advertisements or other promotional content, without prior written consent.
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