Report shows T-Mobile is still the fastest 5G provider at 16 out of 20 major U.S. airports

Report shows T-Mobile is still the fastest 5G provider at 16 out of 20 major U.S. airports،

Research firm Opening signal released a new report today that notes how 5G data speeds from AT&T and Verizon near airports has improved markedly after carriers were allowed to increase the power levels of their C-band spectrum near airports in early July. Additionally, both companies have added additional C-band spectrum in the region. First, some context. It all dates back to T-Mobile’s $26 billion acquisition of Sprint, a deal that was made so that T Mobile could get its hands on Sprint’s 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum trove.

While AT&T and Verizon began building out their 5G networks using high-band airwaves, T-Mobile used mid-band spectrum obtained from Sprint. Due to high band characteristics, AT&T and Verizon faced slower deployment; Although they offer faster data download speeds, mmWave signals are limited in range. So what good are higher data speeds when only a small percentage of your customers can connect to them?

Using mid-band spectrum acquired from Sprint, T-Mobile took the U.S. lead in 5G

Meanwhile, the mid-band has proven to be the Goldilocks of wireless. Sure, it might not offer the blazing speeds that mmWave can, but mid-band signals travel greater distances than high-band. Therefore, T Mobile was able to connect more of its customers to faster 5G signals. After seeing what was happening, AT&T and Verizon spent $68 billion between them to obtain licenses to use mid-band spectrum in the C-band.

T-Mobile's 5G services were wiped out at this airport. Report shows T-Mobile is still the fastest 5G provider at 16 of the top 20 US airports.

It was a total victory for T-Mobile’s 5G services at this airport

There was a small problem. Some of the C-band waves that Verizon and AT&T detected interfered with altimeters used by planes flying near airports. Since this instrument tells pilots how far from the ground the plane they are flying is, AT&T and Verizon had to reduce the strength of their 5G signals near airports while planes were equipped with different altimeters.

On July 1 of this year, AT&T and Verizon have been allowed to increase the power levels of their 5G C-band services and add additional C-band spectrum in the region. Opensignal measured two different 90-day periods. The first began on April 1 and continued until both carriers were allowed to increase their power levels. The second 90-day period began Aug. 1 and covers a period when mitigation efforts eased around airports. Data was collected within a three-kilometre radius of the central point of 20 US airports.

Data showed that AT&T and Verizon have sharply increased their 5G data download speeds after easing mitigation efforts. AT&T’s 5G data download speeds increased 79.6% while Verizon‘s increased by 62.1%. The pair’s average 5G download speed was what Opensignal called a “statistical tie” at 126.9-132.2 Mbps. T Mobile5G data download speeds near these 20 airports showed no change, but the wireless provider’s speed is ahead at these airports over AT&T and Verizon shrank.

Of the 20 airports where data was collected, T-Mobile had the fastest 5G data download speed in 16 of them.

Before AT&T and Verizon were authorized to increase 5G power levels on their C-band service near all 20 airports and to field additional C-band spectrum, T MobileAverage 5G download speeds were 2.4 times faster than AT&T and 2.1 times faster than AT&T. Verizon‘s. After the relaxation of mitigation measures, T MobileThe lead was reduced to 32-37.5%.

However, results vary greatly depending on which airport you look at. For example, at Boston Logan International, AT&T customers enjoy the fastest average 5G data download speeds at 130.2 Mbps, putting them in a statistical tie with T MobileThat’s 114.8 Mbps. At Chicago O’Hare International, AT&T led with an average 5G data download speed of 193.6 and T Mobile was third with an average speed of 49.6 Mbps.

At some airports, like George Bush Intercontinental in Texas, there is a wide disparity in average 5G data download speeds. At this airport, T Mobile is the fastest with an average of 120.6 Mbps while AT&T is second with an average of 36.4 Mbps and tied statistically with VerizonThat’s 29.6 Mbps.

Of the 20 airports used in the study, T Mobile had the fastest average 5G data download speeds with 16 of them from August to October. AT&T was next as it had the fastest average across three airports while Verizon had the fastest average 5G data download speed in an airport.

The 20 airports included: