United States Mobile Quality Report

Introduction

The US mobile market is comprised of several operators, although AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon dominate the market with close to 98% of market share. Thus, the network situation for these MNOs acts as a trustworthy barometer of the network situation in the country. A good knowledge of the network situation also allows the customers to perform fully informed decisions. The objective of this report is to provide a summary of the network situation in the United States for these three carriers. To ensure a fair comparison only the contiguous United States have been analyzed.

This report provides a quick overview of the network situation based on the following KPIs:

• Disconnection time: time that the users of an MNO have had only emergency coverage or no coverage daily in average, in minutes.
• 4G and 5G time: time that the users of an MNO have had 4G and, if deployed, 5G coverage (including 5G NSA and 5G SA).
• 5G penetration and usage: percentage of users that have 5G connectivity and the percentage of time that 5G is actually used.
• Network status in the Common Coverage Area: an analysis of the network status, based on the signal strength and the signal quality, for the areas where all four MNOs provide coverage.
• Call technology usage: percentage of use of each call technology by MNO. This shows which technologies are mainly used by the customers.
• Mobile network latency: percentage of customers on different latency ranks. The ranks are selected according to several performance thresholds.

Summary

The data collected by Weplan Analytics shows that, in general, the three main mobile network operators (MNOs) have a good network situation in the United States, with very similar performance among them. However, there are some notable differences.

Regarding connectivity, the three MNOs have low disconnection times, with Verizon users having around 13 daily minutes of disconnection and AT&T and T-Mobile users having around 15 daily minutes of disconnection. In addition, all three operators offer 4G or 5G coverage more than 98% of the time.

In terms of 5G penetration and usage, the operator with the most clients that use 5G is T-Mobile (71%), and AT&T and Verizon have 69% and 65% of 5G clients respectively. Regarding the percentage of 5G coverage time for 5G clients, there are differences between operators: AT&T is at first place with 84% of the time on 5G, T-Mobile at 69% and Verizon at 57%.

Regarding the mobile network situation, it is noteworthy that the three US operators offer good coverage. Regarding areas of Good or Very good network, T-Mobile and Verizon are tied at 42% and are followed by AT&T at 37%.

Regarding call types, VoLTE technology is the most used, as it accounts for more than 90% of calls. The rest of the calls are made mainly on VoWiFi.

Finally, in terms of latency, the three MNOs present a slightly different latency situation, as Verizon has 83% of measurements with good latency, while AT&T and T-Mobile have 74% and 71% of measurements with good latency, respectively.

The main key figures are as follows:

• The main operators in the United States (AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon) offer 4G and 5G coverage at least 98% of the time.
• On average, 68% of all customers of all analyzed operators are 5G customers (i.e., customers with a compatible device), with T-Mobile being the MNO with the most 5G customers (71%).
• AT&T is the MNO that offers the most 5G coverage time, doing so 84% of the time. Verizon offers the least, providing 5G coverage 57% of its coverage time.
• In the United States, calls are made primarily using VoLTE technology, being used more than 90% of the time.
• At least 70% of all carriers' measurements have a good enough latency for a decent experience across all possible usage types.

Methodology

In the following pages an in-depth description of each analyzed KPI can be found, including the methodology and rationale behind them. At a more general level, the following paragraph describes the data collection methodology.

At a more general level, Weplan Analytics collects crowdsourced data from more than 200 million devices in 31 countries. For this analysis, 3,266 million measurements collected between December 2022 and February 2023 were used. In addition, it should be noted that only the continental territory of the United States has been considered, because it represents the geographical area where the three operators compete on equal terms.

The following map shows the density of measurements taken throughout the country by Weplan Analytics.

The most relevant insights can be found in the Summary section above. A detailed account of each one comprises the rest of the report below.

As the three aforementioned MNOs serve their networks to other parties (such as VMNOs, due to roaming agreements or as part of emergency coverage) the MNOs have been filtered by the network provider reported in the SIM card.

More details about the methodology can be found here.

Connectivity

Connectivity: Daily disconnection time

The following graphic shows the disconnection time as the average number of minutes that each customer of each MNO experiences disconnections throughout the day. Disconnection time includes moments when a customer has no coverage at all (for example in underground parkings, inside elevators, so far away from a site that connection is not possible...) or moments when a customer only has emergency coverage, that is, the ability to perform only emergency calls. This disconnected time may (and, in most cases, will) be discontinuous, and is the average of the daily disconnection time for all users.

Regarding the disconnection time, the situation is very similar among the three MNOs. Verizon has the best disconnection time data, with only 13 daily minutes of disconnection. Its competitors have a very similar result: AT&T and T-Mobile are statistically tied at around 15 daily minutes of disconnection time.

Connectivity: 4G and 5G time

With the advent of the newer 5G technology older technologies such as 2G and 3G are being turned off to free frequencies. Thus, guaranteeing at least a proper 4G coverage is one of the main goals of MNOs, and for those who already have 4G sorted out, the focus turns to 5G.

The connectivity of 4G and 5G in the United States is very similar among the three operators. AT&T and Verizon,statistically tied, offer 4G/5G coverage 99% of the time, and T-Mobile offers 98% of the time under 4G/5G coverage.

5G penetration and usage

The implementation of 5G in the United States by Verizon began in April 2019. Meanwhile, AT&T claimed to have nationwide 5G coverage in 2020, offering 5G mobile service in thousands of cities since December 21, 2018. T-Mobile launched its nationwide 5G network on December 2, 2019.

The ability of a customer to use the 5G network depends on several factors. First, their device must be 5G compatible. Second, the MNO must have a 5G network. Finally, the client must contract a mobile plan that allows the 5G to be used, as not all MNOs offer full access to the 5G network as part of the regular plans.

The following charts show the percentage of users by MNO that have 5G access and, for those who do, the percentage of time that they are under 5G coverage. To establish whether a user is a 5G client or not, their 5G connectivity has been checked: if they have connected to the 5G network at least once, they are considered 5G clients.

In the US, all carriers offer 5G. The operator with the most 5G clients is T-Mobile, which has 71% of this type of clients, followed by AT&T with 69% and Verizon, being the operator with the fewest 5G clients, has 65%.

Regarding 5G coverage time for 5G clients, there are significant differences between operators: AT&T is in first place providing 5G coverage 84% of the time, followed by T-Mobile that provides 69% of 5G coverage time, while Verizon provides 57% of the total time in 5G for its 5G clients.

4G and 5G network status

There are two main network performance indicators: signal strength and signal quality. Each technology has its own measurements, but five great categories can be established:

• Very Good: the performance for all network usages will be excellent.
• Good: the performance for all network usages may present occasional difficulties but is overall good.
• Fair: most network-dependent usages (such as calls or data usage) will have a decent or better performance.
• Degraded: network usage will be unstable and unreliable but allows for basic usage such as calls with acceptable quality and very slow data transfer.
• Very Degraded: network usage different from emergency calls is nearly impossible.

There are two ways to establish this value: looking at the percentage of area and looking at the percentage of measurements on each category. Most measurements take place in urban areas, where coverage is better, but in most countries most of the area is not urban, so the percentage of area with a problematic network situation may be different to the percentage of measurements with a problematic network situation.

To ensure a fair comparison between carriers only areas where all MNOs have data have been analyzed. Also, as most connections are made in 4G and 5G, only those technologies have been considered. The frequencies used, the total bandwidth per band, the number of clients and the assigned band for each MNO are very influential factors in these results.

The overall network situation in the common coverage area of the analyzed operators in US, area-wise, is good. Verizon presents the best result with 80% of the area with fair or better coverage, followed closely by T-Mobile with 79% and AT&T with 76% of the area with fair or better coverage. Regarding areas of Good or Very good network, T-Mobile and Verizon are tied at 42% area, followed by AT&T at 37%.

Measurement-wise the general network situation is slightly different. T-Mobile is the operator with the best result, with 73% of measurements being fair or better. It is followed by Verizon and AT&T with 71% and 69% of measurements being fair or better respectively. If we focus on Good and Very good measurements, the same order applies with T-Mobile at 43%, followed by Verizon at 38% and then AT&T at 36%.

Call type percentage

Although 2G and 3G are capable of data usage, the advent of 4G and more recently 5G technologies have relegated them to mostly call usage. The absence of 4G-based call technology ensured that 2G and 3G, as the only way to make a phone call, were still relevant. The development of VoLTE (Voice over LTE) calls during the 2010s marked the beginning of the end for these legacy technologies.

However, not all customers can benefit from VoLTE calls. For a customer to use this technology several conditions must be met:

1. Their MNO must provide 4G and VoLTE.
2. They must have a phone capable of performing VoLTE calls.
3. They must have a phone rate that includes VoLTE calls.
4. Their phone must be homologated by the MNO and the manufacturer to perform VoLTE calls.

The fourth condition means that a customer, without changing their phone, can have VoLTE with one MNO but lack it with a different MNO. When a customer connected to 4G without VoLTE capabilities (for any reason) tries to perform a call, a hand-off process to the 2G or 3G network takes place. This process, depending on the method applied, is called CSFB (the most common one) or SRVCC. Aside from those technologies, VoWiFi (Voice over Wi-Fi) is also used when a Wi-Fi network is available.

In the United States, VoLTE technology is the most used by customers of all MNOs, being used on average for more than 90% of the calls. AT&T tops the list with its customers using this technology in 95% of the calls. It is followed by T-Mobile and Verizon, whose customers use VoLTE technology 92% and 88% in of the calls respectively. The rest of the calls are mainly made through VoWiFi.

It is important to mention that throughout 2022 all the operators carried out the 3G sunset to focus on the development and quality of their 5G network. It is also worth noting the small weight of CSFB and SRVCC, specially compared to other countries. This shows that the transition to VoLTE and the 3G sunset in the USA have been performed correctly, and that most users for the analyzed MNOs have devices compatibles with the latest technologies.

Latency status

Latency is the measurement of how much time it takes for the information to be transmitted between the user and the network. A lower latency means a faster, smoother network experience, whereas a higher latency means that the network experience will not be as good, or even unusable. This makes latency a good indicator of user experience. We have divided latency in four great groups:

• Excellent latency translates to a very smooth user experience, even with the most data-intensive usage, such as gaming or 4K streaming.
• Good latency translates to a good user experience, although gaming may not be as fluid and 4K may present occasional problems.
• Degraded latency translates to a mediocre user experience. Gaming and 4K are either uncomfortable or impossible, videochat may present noticeable lag, messaging with multimedia may take a long time to load and loading a web may be slow.
• Bad latency translates to an essentially unusable network. Only the lightest usage, such as sending messages without multimedia works decently.

The three MNOs present a slightly different latency situation. Verizon leads this category with 83% of its measurements classified as at least good, followed by T-Mobile and AT&T with 74% and 71% respectively.

Regarding the percentage of measurements with excellent latency, the same situation occurs: Verizon is in first place with 26% of measurements with excellent latency, followed by T-Mobile with 22% and, finally, AT&T with 18%.