T-Mobile beats Verizon and AT&T to take U.S. 5G speed crown

T-Mobile also has the edge over its rivals when it comes to 5G availability.

What you need to know

• Independent data released by Opensignal claims T-Mobile offers the fastest average 5G download and upload speeds in the U.S.
• T-Mobile users had an average 5G download speed of 58.1Mbps between September 16 and December 14, 2020.
• T-Mobile also won Opensignal's 5G Availability award with a score of 30.1%, up from 22.5% six months back.

T-Mobile's 5G is the fastest among all major carriers in the U.S., according to Opensignal's 5G User Experience Report January 2021. For the first time, T-Mobile has won Opensignal's award for 5G download speed, with average 5G download speeds of 58.1 Mbps.

Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile, said in a statement:

From the word 'go', we've been the leader in 5G coverage, and now we're piling on the speed with Ultra Capacity 5G – first in 5G coverage, now first in 5G speed. Last year we blanketed the country in 5G, and now we're layering on the capacity and speed. We closed out 2020 with over 100 million people covered with our Ultra Capacity 5G and we will extend this deployment nationwide by the end of 2021. THIS is how you build the best 5G network in the country, and we are just getting started.

In addition to having the fastest average 5G download speed, T-Mobile also won Opensignal's 5G Availability award with a score of 30.1%, up 7.6% from six months ago. Opensignal's first 5G Upload Speed award also went to T-Mobile, with average upload speeds of 14.0 Mbps. Verizon took second place with 11.9 Mbps, while AT&T was third with 8.0 Mbps.

Tests recently conducted by umlaut in Chicago, Houston, New York City, and Washington, D.C. also found T-Mobile to have the fastest average 5G download and upload speeds. The average download speed for T-Mobile's 5G across the four cities was found to be 218 Mbps.

5G coverage map: Every US city with AT&T, Verizon & T-Mobile 5G