So far, Verizon has increased its millimeter-based 5G coverage to the top of the 5G network performance list. But as networks continue to evolve, we are beginning to see some changes, highlighted by the latest performance report from the network tester Ookla, which covers the last three months of 2020.
AT&T 5G is the reigning champion during the fourth quarter of last year, according to Ookla, which shocked us almost as much as it probably shocked you. This is a very considerable change, especially since Ookla ranked Verizon as the best performing 5G network until the third quarter of 2020, when the operator’s speed score was 792.5. That surpassed AT & T’s next best score of 65.22.
In the fourth quarter, however, AT&T’s 5G speed score rose to 75.59, while Verizon plummeted to 67.07.
The huge drop in Verizon’s score can be attributed to the wider launch of Verizon’s 5G network to more markets. In October, with the launch of the iPhone 12, Big Red went beyond mmWave 5G to include the sub 6Hz spectrum in its network. This type of 5G covers more people – Verizon now says its 5G network reaches 230 million people – but it is also much slower than mmWave. And more people getting slower on a network will reduce the speed score, according to Ookla.
With that general drop in speed, Verizon is now at the bottom of the 5G stack, behind T-Mobile and Sprint (both measured separately, despite their merger in 2020). In terms of overall performance – LTE and 5G – Ookla ranked AT&T first for the eighth consecutive quarter. T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon complete the latest rankings.
It remains to be seen whether AT&T and T-Mobile will see similar reductions in their scores as more and more people join the 5G revolution. 2021 seems to be an interesting year when it comes to the performance of 5G operators.