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 shares Reliability Experience with T-Mobile, however, T-Mobile still wins Consistent Quality outright
Our American users once again have the most consistent quality of experience on T-Mobile’s network. Users on T-Mobile have enjoyed a three percentage point boost in score since the previous report, up to 83.1%. T-Mobile and Verizon jointly win Opensignal’s new Reliability Experience award with equal scores of 898 points on a 100-1000 point scale. Reliability Experience measures the ability of our users to connect to and successfully complete (basic) tasks on operators’ networks.
Verizon’s overall Coverage Experience is the best in the U.S.
Our American users continue to have the best overall Coverage Experience on Verizon’s network, as the operator wins the award outright for a third consecutive report — making Verizon the only American operator to win this award since its introduction in the January 2024 mobile network experience report. Verizon wins this time with a score of 9.6 points on a 10-point scale, slightly ahead of second-placed AT&T. Coverage Experience measures the extent of mobile networks in the places people live, work and travel.
Verizon keeps hold of 5G Games Experience and T-Mobile wins overall Games Experience outright
As was the case in the last report, T-Mobile wins overall Games Experience, while Verizon continues to top the leaderboard for 5G Games Experience. T-Mobile takes home overall Games Experience with a score of 71.6 points on a 100-point scale — Verizon wins 5G Games Experience outright with a score of 82.3 points. AT&T places third for both awards.
T-Mobile takes home 5G Coverage Experience for the third consecutive time
T-Mobile remains in front for 5G Coverage Experience — T-Mobile is the only American operator to win this award since it was introduced in the January 2024 mobile network experience report. T-Mobile’s score of eight points on a 10-point scale is one point ahead of runner-up, AT&T.
T-Mobile’s users enjoy overall average downloads speeds of over 150Mbps
T-Mobile finishes first for three out of four speed awards — Download Speed Experience, Upload Speed Experience and 5G Download Speed. T-Mobile has become the first operator in the U.S. where our users have experienced overall average download speeds exceeding 150Mbps, reaching an impressive 158.5Mbps — three times those seen on AT&T in second place. Verizon wins the final speed award, 5G Upload Speed, with a score of 20.4Mbps.
Users’ Live Video Experience rates as excellent on all three operators
Verizon and T-Mobile retain their respective titles for best 5G Live Video Experience and overall Live Video Experience. However, our users have an Excellent (58 or above) experience streaming live video on all three operators’ networks, both overall and when connected to 5G, meaning that they are able to stream video at least at 1080p with low loading times, little stalling and a satisfactory live offset.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
This is the first American mobile network experience report in which Opensignal has included its Reliability Experience metric. However, we reported on the Reliability Experience of T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T earlier in the year. Since that analysis, scores have improved across all three carriers, and Verizon has drawn level with T-Mobile.
Aside from the inclusion of Reliability Experience, there has been no movement on the awards table when it comes to winners — although the gap between first and second place has shrunk for a few metrics, such as overall Video Experience. T-Mobile remains the most awarded operator and once again takes home all five overall experiential awards. Verizon continues to claim all but one award relating to 5G experience and AT&T holds on to its singular win for Availability.
Following the May 2024 announcement of T-Mobile’s agreement to acquire UScellular’s wireless operations, both Verizon and AT&T have inked deals to purchase UScellular’s spectrum holdings, provided the deal between T-Mobile and UScellular completes — which UScellular expects to occur in mid-2025, subject to regulatory approvals. Verizon is set to spend $1 billion on PCS licenses and spectrum in the 850MHz and AWS spectrum bands, while AT&T plans to pay $1.01 billion for spectrum in the 700MHz and 3.45GHz bands. T-Mobile’s acquisition will include around 30% of UScellular’s spectrum holdings across the 600MHz, 700MHz, AWS, 2.5GHz, and 24GHz bands. T-Mobile will also gain UScellular’s wireless customer base and retail outlets through its $4.4 billion agreement. As mid-band (1-6GHz) spectrum plays a critical role in 5G deployment, offering a balance of coverage and speed, these expanded mid-band resources will boost 5G performance across all three providers.
In December 2024, T-Mobile opened registration for beta testing of its planned T-Mobile Starlink direct-to-cell satellite service. This announcement followed the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) recent approval for SpaceX to use its Starlink satellite broadband to deliver Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) to T-Mobile customers in the U.S. The approval comes with the condition that the service does not interfere with existing networks. This initiative aims to extend coverage to locations where terrestrial networks struggle to provide reliable connectivity.
In this report we examine the mobile network experience of the three main mobile network operators in the U.S. — AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon — over a period of 90 days starting on September 1, 2024, and ending on November 29, 2024, to see how they fared. In the regional analysis, we also include UScellular (U) in 19 states where it offers cellular services, along with GCI (G) in Alaska.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
T-Mobile remains the outright winner of the Video Experience award, scoring 63.8 points on a 100-point scale. T-Mobile’s score gives it a slight lead over second-placed Verizon and third-placed AT&T, although all three operators place in the Good (58-68) category.
A Good (58-68) rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 720p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
AT&T’s score increased by two points since the last report, Verizon’s by one point and T-Mobile’s by under one point, reducing the gap between the three operators.
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
Opensignal’s Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. 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 video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the overall video experience for each operator 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.
In addition to Video Experience, we report on the following metrics related to video experience:
- 5G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Video Experience – 5G Users: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G video experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator’s 3G network.
National Analysis
T-Mobile’s score of 65.8 points for Live Video Experience is two points ahead of AT&T’s, and two points ahead of Verizon’s — making T-Mobile once again the outright winner of overall Live Video Experience. However, T-Mobile’s lead has shrunk since the previous report due to users on AT&T and Verizon seeing larger boosts in score — five points and four points, respectively — than those on T-Mobile, three points.
All operators place in the Excellent (58 or above) category, meaning that on all three networks our users are, on average, able to stream video at least at 1080p with low loading times, little stalling and a satisfactory live offset.
Operators’ Live Video Experience scores are determined using a range of measures that impact users’ perceived live streaming viewing experience, including picture quality, video loading time, and stall rate, but also live playback offset — the time difference between real-time and the current playback position a viewer sees.
Unlike Video Experience, which represents on-demand video streams, Live Video Experience quantifies live video streaming used for current events. For example when users watch live sports, game streams, music concerts, or news 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.
National Analysis
There is no change to the rankings for Games Experience in this report. T-Mobile wins the Games Experience award outright with a score of 71.6 points on a 100-point scale. Verizon and AT&T place second and third, respectively.
Verizon and T-Mobile place in the Fair (65-75) category, while AT&T places one category lower, in Poor (40-65). A Fair (65-75) rating means that users find the experience to be ‘average’. In most cases the game is responsive to the actions of the player with most users feeling like they have control over the game. The majority of players notice a delay between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.
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 Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games. The score is then measured on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Games Experience, we report on the following metrics related to games experience:
- 5G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Games Experience – 5G Users: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G games experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
T-Mobile continues to win the Download Speed Experience award outright. It does so this time with an impressive score of 158.5Mbps, triple that of the next fastest operator, AT&T. T-Mobile’s lead has increased since the previous report, as while AT&T’s and Verizon’s scores both increased by 3Mbps, T-Mobile’s rose by 19Mbps.
Definitions
Measured in Mbps, Download Speed Experience represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across an operator’s mobile data networks.
In addition to Download Speed Experience, we report on the following metrics related to download speeds:
- 5G Download Speed: The average download speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Download Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average download speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G download speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
National Analysis
Our users’ fastest overall average upload speeds are once again on T-Mobile’s network, meaning that T-Mobile wins the Upload Speed Experience award outright. T-Mobile’s score of 14.3Mbps is 6Mbps more than second-placed Verizon’s and 8Mbps more than AT&T’s.
Definitions
Upload Speed Experience measures the average upload speeds for each operator observed by our users across their mobile data networks. Typically upload speeds are slower than download speeds, as current mobile broadband technologies focus resources on providing the best possible download speed for users consuming content on their devices. As mobile internet trends move away from downloading content to creating content and supporting real-time communications services, upload speeds are becoming more vital and new technologies are emerging that boost upstream capacity.
In addition to Upload Speed Experience, we report on five supporting metrics related to upload speeds:
- 5G Upload Speed: The average upload speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G upload speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
Regional Analysis
Regional Analysis Summary: USA, Mobile Network Experience Report, January 2025
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A-D
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
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E-H
- Florida
- Georgia
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I-L
- Idaho
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M-P
- Maine
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- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
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Q-T
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
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U-X
- Utah
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- Washington
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