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T-Mobile is gaining on Verizon when it comes to 4G availability, study finds

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The war between T-Mobile and Verizon for fastest network rages on, and the latest battle has ended in a draw. According to a new report from Open Signal, the two are now neck and neck when it comes to 4G speed rankings, with the two competitors tied for first place in both 4G and overall speed metrics. Open Signal’s survey, which aggregates billions of customer experiences, noted that T-Mobile either won or tied for first in all speed rankings, including overall download speed, 3G speed, and 4G speed, and won 3G latency,

Of course, we should note that while T-Mobile edged ahead of Verizon in 4G speed rankings just six months ago, it looks as though Big Red has since made up that ground. All the same, T-Mobile doesn’t seem to have gotten any worse, a point that chief technology officer Neville Ray drove home in a statement.

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“Just like T-Mobile’s Un-carrier moves have pushed the industry to change, our consistent, relentless, and proven LTE speed leadership has pushed the industry to try to catch up,” he said. “When you combine T-Mobile’s value with great speeds and a coverage map that’s virtually indistinguishable from the big guys, well, let’s just say ‘It’s on.'”

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While Verizon won first place when it came to 4G availability, T-Mobile is certainly gaining on its rival. While Open Signal testers found a Verizon LTE signal just over 88 percent of the time, they also noted that “T-Mobile has been systematically closing the gap. In the fourth quarter its 4G availability was less than two percentage points below Verizon’s, the closest we’ve seen that difference.”

And as the Un-carrier pointed out, this fact highlights the breadth of their own LTE network, which now boasts coverage of 313 million people — 99 percent as many people as Verizon.

Happily, regardless of which cellphone service provider you’re using, it looks as though all four of the big guys (T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint) extended their LTE reach. So all in all, it looks like things are looking up for smartphone users in the United States.

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Lulu Chang
Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
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