Earlier today, PC Magazine unveiled the results of its Fastest Mobile Networks survey with Verizon landing on the top spot as the 4G leader once again. But if there’s something worth noting about the results of this survey is that T-Mobile earned the spot of being the top provider in 12 major cities and 3 rural areas.
PC Magazine’s survey examined the speed performance of the top four wireless carriers across over 30 cities in the country. The speed score was gathered after certain factors: upload speed, download speed, and reliability.
For its fifth consecutive year, Verizon garnered the national award; earning a 99 speed score on the survey. Following its footsteps is T-Mobile, which earned a score of 93, followed by AT&T with a score of 88 and Sprint with 75.
As mentioned, T-Mobile earned the top score in 12 major cities and 3 rural areas. As compared to the other networks, T-Mobile proved to be more consistent based on PC Magazine’s criteria. The major cities where T-Mobile earned top spot include the following:
- Atlanta – T-Mobile (98), Verizon (92), AT&T (78), Sprint (77)
- Boston – T-Mobile (96), Verizon (94), AT&T (86), Sprint (69)
- Charlotte – T-Mobile (92), Verizon (89), AT&T (87), Sprint (69)
- Denver – T-Mobile (87), AT&T (85), Sprint (84), Verizon (82)
- Houston – T-Mobile (97), AT&T (91), Verizon (90), Sprint (84)
- Las Vegas – T-Mobile and Verizon (89), AT&T (84), Sprint (75)
- Miami – T-Mobile (99), Verizon (92), AT&T (73), Sprint (57)
- Oklahoma City – T-Mobile (93), AT&T (88), Verizon (81), Sprint (71)
- Philadelphia – T-Mobile (89), Sprint (85), Verizon (83), AT&T (77)
- Portland, OR – T-Mobile (97), Verizon (87), Sprint (85), AT&T (80)
- Raleigh-Durham – T-Mobile and AT&T (89), Verizon (78), Sprint (69)
- San Diego – T-Mobile (98), Verizon (95), AT&T (87), Sprint (72)
It’s important to note that the ranking T-Mobile received from PC Magazine is consistent with the network analysis released by OpenSignals back in January. In its study, OpenSignals recognized T-Mobile as the number one service provider for Denver, when it comes to download speed and availability.
As for the rural and suburban areas in the country, T-Mobile earned the top spot in these areas:
- Northeast – T-Mobile (98), Verizon and AT&T (96), Sprint (78)
- Southeast – T-Mobile and AT&T (94), Verizon (93), Sprint (73)
- North Central – T-Mobile (95), Verizon (94), AT&T (93), Sprint (87)
The results of PC Magazine’s study follows reports of a merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, which will likely level the game with the other two carriers. You can read the full results of the study here.