OpenSignal Releases 5G Experience Report for July 2023

OpenSignal has released its 5G Experience Report comparing the speed, experience and coverage metrics for T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T.

As usual, T-Mobile retains its crown in 5G Download Speed and 5G Availability with impressive leads over its competitors for both of these awards. The carrier's 5G performance makes its 5G Home Internet service a viable option for those who don't have access to high speed internet via traditional providers.

Notably, Verizon squeaked ahead of T-Mobile for 5G upload speed with a 0.3Mbps lead for the first time in seven consecutive wins.


Verizon won five of the experience categories compared, T-Mobile won two, and AT&T none.




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.

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