Telecom Lead America: AT&T leads the U.S. LTE / 4G market in terms of mobile broadband speed, according to RootMetrics, a mobile analytics company.
AT&T offers the fastest pure LTE speeds, outpacing Verizon for both download and upload. AT&T’s non-LTE speeds were faster than those of any carrier except T-Mobile. AT&T continues to trail Verizon, though, when comparing LTE footprints.
RootMetrics says Sprint’s LTE speeds lag behind those of AT&T and Verizon but are faster than what Sprint publicly claimed they would be. Sprint’s LTE coverage remains limited, both at a national level and within markets that are LTE-enabled. This lack of full coverage should change considerably as Sprint continues its LTE rollout.
T-Mobile didn’t offer LTE in 2012. T-Mobile’s HSPA+42 network continues to turn in impressive download speeds, while they struggled with upload speeds. LTE coupled with HSPA+42 could create the fastest combination around.
Verizon’s biggest advantage is the comprehensiveness of its LTE network. Across all 77 markets, RootMetrics accessed its LTE network more than 90 percent of the time. While fast, Verizon’s LTE speeds slightly trail those of AT&T.
RootMetrics’ bucket test represents the moment of truth in the speed performance race. In the second half of 2012, AT&T and Verizon ran neck-and-neck when you compare results calculated over each carrier’s LTE markets. Verizon’s extensive LTE footprint, though, once again helped the carrier pull away in the overall race: while Verizon offered LTE in all 77 of our markets, AT&T provided LTE in 47 out of those same 77 markets and their speed bucket results dipped considerably in their non-LTE markets. Sprint’s LTE bucket tests show promise but those markets were limited in 2012 and their non-LTE market results proved much, much slower. T-Mobile’s bucket tests reveal impressive non-LTE speeds and their HSPA+42 network could be the ideal backbone for their 2013 LTE plans.
AT&T
AT&T’s LTE speeds were blazing fast. At 18.6 Mbps, AT&T offered the fastest pure LTE download speed of any carrier, outpacing Verizon’s mark of 14.3 Mbps for LTE-only download. AT&T also offered outstanding speed in its LTE-only upload testing, recording an average of 9.0 Mbps.
Across its LTE markets, AT&T averaged a maximum download speed of 57.7 Mbps and a maximum upload speed of 19.6 Mbps. These are amazing speeds, but remember that maximum speeds cannot be sustained by any carrier’s network. Since maximum speeds are so variable, you might find better or worse maximum speeds than these.
Within AT&T’s LTE-enabled markets, RootMetrics connected to LTE 81.7 percent of the time during its download tests. This rate of connection, while impressive, still trails Verizon. When you cannot connect to LTE, AT&T’s legacy HSPA network still offered very respectable speeds.
AT&T performed strongly in both non-LTE download and upload tests, trailing only T-Mobile. They averaged a solid 4.3 Mbps across all markets for non-LTE download and 1.1 Mbps for non-LTE upload.
RootMetrics tested 77 markets in the second half of 2012, 47 of which were officially labeled by AT&T as LTE markets at the time of visits.
AT&T offered excellent, consistent speed performance in its LTE-enabled markets. AT&T recorded “Lightning-fast” speeds (those over 10 Mbps) in 56 percent of download tests, “Likeable” speeds (those between 3- 10 Mbps) in 33 percent of download tests, and “Lagging-behind” speeds (those below 3 Mbps) in only 11 percent of our tests. The majority of the time, then, we experienced speeds at the top end of our speed spectrum.
AT&T’s performance wasn’t nearly as strong when we looked at the distribution of speed performance in markets not officially labeled as LTE. In these non-LTE markets, AT&T’s “Lightning-fast” performance dipped to only 9 percent, with 59 percent of speed tests falling into the middle, “Likeable” category, and 33 percent qualifying for the slowest, “Lagging-behind” bucket.
SPRINT
The sample size for Sprint is small, but the trend line is exciting for consumers looking for another LTE option. In the second half of 2012, Sprint averaged 10.3 Mbps for LTE download and 4.4 Mbps for LTE upload.
Sprint averaged a maximum download speed of 32.7 Mbps and averaged a maximum upload speed of 9.9 Mbps. Though impressive, these speeds were the slowest of the three LTE carriers.
Sprint was a network in transition during 2012, as they moved forward with their Network Vision initiative and laid the groundwork for a broad LTE rollout. This transition, however, had barely started in the second half of 2012 and the bulk of all Sprint markets were not LTE-enabled. Consumers in these non-LTE markets experienced extremely slow speeds: Sprint recorded 1.6 Mbps for non-LTE download and 0.7 Mbps for non-LTE upload. Performance in their new LTE-enabled markets, however, points toward significant improvement in the future.
T-MOBILE
Though T-Mobile did not have any LTE-enabled markets in 2012, their HSPA+42 network offered the fastest download speeds, by far, of any non-LTE service. Its 7.3 Mbps non-LTE download speed was surprisingly close to Sprint’s LTE download speed of 10.3 Mbps. HSPA+42 continues to be a strong second to LTE service for downloading tasks.
T-Mobile didn’t perform nearly as well in our non-LTE upload tests, recording only 1.5 Mbps. If upload speed is a significant factor for you, keep in mind that T-Mobile’s impressive speeds are coming in RootMetrics’ download, not upload, tests. If your primary interest is in download speed, T-Mobile could pleasantly surprise, especially if they continue to offer an unlimited data plan and quickly move forward with their own LTE rollout.
T-Mobile of course doesn’t have any within LTE-enabled market results since they had not launched their LTE network during 2012. T-Mobile’s HSPA+42 network was impressive in our non-LTE download speed bucket tests. In fact, they outperformed Sprint by a wide margin and were also faster than AT&T when comparing results from each carrier’s non-LTE markets. T-Mobile qualified for the top, “Lightning-fast” speed bucket in 31 percent of our tests; offered “Likeable,” middle-tier speeds in 44 percent of our tests; and only fell into the slowest category in 25 percent of our tests. In short, T-Mobile has a very fast non-LTE foundation and the addition of LTE service in 2013 could make T-Mobile an even more attractive option. They certainly shouldn’t be ignored.
VERIZON
Verizon recorded a speedy 14.3 Mbps for LTE-only download, complemented by a fast 8.5 Mbps for LTE-only upload.
In RootMetrics’ maximum speed tests, Verizon averaged 49.3 Mbps for maximum download speeds and an extremely fast 19.7 Mbps average for maximum upload speed.
Verizon impressed in this performance benchmark as well. At 56 percent, the majority of Verizon’s tests qualified as “Lightning-fast.” Only 12 percent of their tests slipped into the slowest speed bucket, leaving 32 percent of tests at middle-tier, “Likeable” speeds. Verizon’s speed intervals reveal consistently fast performance, reflecting its mature LTE network.
Verizon’s legacy technology recorded the slowest average speeds for any carrier, recording just 0.9 Mbps for download and 0.7 Mbps for upload. Verizon is the slowest when you aren’t on LTE, but you are almost always on their LTE network and this makes the slower speeds an almost non-existent concern for the typical consumer.
