T-Mobile was probably thrilled to see Ookla’s latest 5G report this morning, which dropped its Q1 2022 market analysis of the US mobile market. The results show that T-Mobile’s 5G is only getting better, Verizon is starting to catch on and AT&T is fighting (right now) to make a difference.
In Ookla’s report, they give us an easily digestible way that shows overall network speed and consistency before splitting into 5G segments. In terms of overall speed and consistency, T-Mobile is much the king and has expanded its leadership for overall speed from Q4 last year to Q1 this year. Verizon and AT&T have seen some movement, but T-Mobile has not.
However, 5G is what anyone wants to talk about, so below are three main areas for us to focus on. As you can see in the 5G Speed section, the average speed of T-Mobile is approaching 200Mbps. It’s only slightly higher for the quarter, while Verizon has seen a big jump from 78Mbps to this 107Mbps mark. This is probably thanks to the initial rollout of their C-band. AT&T, well, they haven’t changed much yet.
From there, Ookla takes us to 5G availability and continuity. T-Mobile’s (slightly) availability was again at 65%, while AT&T was the same at about 49%. Verizon improved from its 28% mark to 36% in Q4. We’ve been saying for years now that Verizon’s ad speeds are great and all, but for most of us it’s rare to see them with their weak choices to focus on 5G mmW.
For consistency, the number of carriers was mostly the same (about 80% for T-Mo and Verizon). Compatibility is described as the “operator’s ability to provide continuous speeds over a 5G connection”. The higher the number here, the better and both Verizon and T-Mobile are providing better numbers there.
When Verizon and AT&T launch a major mid-band 5G (C-Band) push in the next few years, we’ll see that all of these numbers grow closer together, unless T-Mobile has some secret sauce on its sleeve. For now, though, they have a big lead and should hold on for a while.
// Okala