According to the most recent report published by OpenSignal, T-Mobile has the fastest LTE speeds on average in the States. Its average download speeds are 11.5Mbps, making it faster than AT&T’s 9.12Mbps, Verizon’s 7.82Mbps and Sprint’s mediocre 4.32Mbps.
Although that may sound great, the report is pretty damning on the state of the US’ LTE coverage. Although it was one of the first countries to start building on the 4th gen networking technology, it’s one of the poorest speed-wise, when compared to the res of the world.
Australia’s average, for instance, is 24.5Mbps. In fact, Italy, Brazil, Hong Kong and Denmark are all above 20Mbps. The States’ LTE networks average out at 6.5Mbps. This is mostly down to the fact that so many people are using LTE in the U.S. It’s clogging up the network and slowing it down for everyone else.
T-Mobile – currently – is building out its coverage, upgrading its LTE networks to 10+10 and 20+20 in a number of locations. This not only improves possible download speeds, but also takes care of the “clogging” issue by providing more spectrum. Its move to purchase A-block, low frequency spectrum from Verizon will only bolster its network further.
Its worth checking out the full report. There are some really useful graphs, breaking down speeds, coverage, and how much time users spend using LTE in their respective countries. Read it over at OpenSignal.com.