Did your carrier deliver the fastest median download 5G data speed in the U.S. last quarter?

Ookla, the company behind the Speedtest app, announced today its fourth quarter 2020 Speedtest Market Analysis for the U.S. According to the report, AT&T provided the fastest median 5G download data speed during the three-month period. The third largest carrier in the U.S. also had the fastest wireless speeds overall for the second consecutive year (eight quarters in a row). Additionally, since 2019 AT&T has been the fastest wireless provider in the U.S. for the Apple iPhone.

Responding to the report, AT&T said, "Ookla’s latest results show that AT&T was the fastest mobile operator in the United States during Q4 2020 with a Speed Score of 50.27 on modern chipsets in competitive geographies. Additionally, if you look only at tests taken on a 5G connection, AT&T had the fastest Speed Score in the U.S. in Q4 2020 at 75.59."

After AT&T, T-Mobile had the second highest overall Speed Score with a score of 47.16. Sprint (part of T-Mobile, of course) was third with a tally of 41.43. Verizon was last after scoring 40.49.

During the fourth quarter (October 2020-December 2020), AT&T had the fastest median download 5G data speed with a score off 79.6. Sprint and T-Mobile combined for a score of 71.5 and Verizon's score was 60.4. As we pointed out back in November, Verizon was actually the owner of the fastest median download 5G data speed in the U.S. until it launched its nationwide 5G service. That's because up until that event, the only mobile 5G service offered by Verizon was for its mmWave powered Ultra Wideband signals that deliver download data speeds as fast as 1Gbps. Once Verizon turned on the switch for its low-band Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), the carrier's median 5G data speeds plunged. That's because low-speed spectrum delivers much lower 5G speeds than high-band.

AT&T says that its nationwide 5G service covers over 14,000 cities and town. AT&T's mmW 5G+ is now in 38 cities. Chris Sambar, AT&T's Executive Vice President of Technology Operations said, "We continue to lead the competition and deliver the speeds our customers need thanks to the dedicated, hard work by our teams. I am determined we have the best and most innovative engineers in the business."