An industry report shows T-Mobile is the top mobile carrier in 5G download speed and widespread availability across the US.
mmWave 5G provides high speeds, but isn't widely available
Apple's iPhone 12 lineup is capable of 5G speeds, which has been a big selling point for the devices. The high-bandwidth wireless technology allows for near gigabit internet speeds when ideal conditions are met.
According to an Opensignal study, shared by 9to5Mac, T-Mobile has been leading other carriers in terms of download speed and availability across the US. However, the superior mmWave 5G technology is rarely used by T-Mobile customers.
T-Mobile wins out in categories that affect more average users. Image source: Opensignal
The study revealed that while T-Mobile had a higher percentage of customers connected to 5G with faster speeds when connected, other services may provide superior experiences. The voice, video, and gaming experiences were deemed better on Verizon and AT&T than T-Mobile, despite the bandwidth and availability of T-Mobile 5G.
Download and upload speed results provided by Opensignal
The download speed of T-Mobile reached 87.5 Mbps, up from 71.3 Mbps in the April report. These speeds are expected when using the more-widely-spread sub-6GHz 5G service, while mmWave 5G will enable connections closer to gigabit speeds in ideal situations.
The mmWave 5G speed test showed T-Mobile averaged 312 Mbps while Verizon nearly doubled this at 618.4 Mbps. Availability of mmWave 5G is highly dependent on event locations like sports stadiums or convention centers.
Due to this availability limitation, only about 0.2% of T-Mobile users connected to mmWave 5G during the quarter. Therefore, the sub-6GHz 5G availability and speed will be more impactful to the average user -- which are T-Mobile's strengths.
T-Mobile merged with Sprint in an attempt to compete with Verizon and AT&T. So far, the effort seems to be working as it continues to expand availability and download speed at a faster rate than its rivals.
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