Report shows T-Mobile is still the fastest 5G provider at 16 out of 20 major U.S. airports

Research firm Opensignal released a new report today that noted how the 5G data speeds of AT&T and Verizon near airports improved sharply after the carriers were allowed to increase the power levels of their C-band spectrum near airports at the beginning of July. In addition, both firms added additional C-band spectrum in the area. First, some background. It all dates back to T-Mobile's $26 billion acquisition of Sprint, a deal that was made so that T-Mobile could get its hands on Sprint's hoard of 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum.

While AT&T and Verizon started building out their 5G networks using high-band airwaves, T-Mobile used the mid-band spectrum it obtained from Sprint. Because of the characteristics of high-band, AT&T and Verizon had to deal with a slower roll-out; despite offering faster download data speeds, mmWave signals are limited when it comes to reach. So what good are the higher data speeds when only a small percentage of your customers can connect to them?

Meanwhile, mid-band proved to be the Goldilocks of wireless. Sure, it might not deliver the blazing fast speeds that mmWave can, but mid-band signals travel greater distances than high-band. As a result, T-Mobile was able to connect more of its customers to faster 5G signals. After seeing what was going down, AT&T and Verizon spent $68 billion between them to obtain licenses to use mid-band spectrum in the C-band.

There was one little problem. Some of the C-band airwaves that Verizon and AT&T picked up interfered with altimeters used by aircraft flying near airports. Since this instrument tells pilots how far off the ground the plane they are flying happens to be, AT&T and Verizon had to reduce the power of their 5G signals near airports while planes were being retrofitted with different altimeters.

On July 1st of this year, AT&T and Verizon were allowed to increase the power levels of their C-band 5G services and add additional C-band spectrum in the area. Opensignal measured two different 90-day periods. The first started on April 1st and ran until just before the two carriers were allowed to hike the power levels. The second 90-day period started August 1st and covers a period when the mitigation efforts had eased around the airports. The data was collected within two miles of the center point of 20 U.S. airports.

The data showed that AT&T and Verizon increased their 5G download data speeds sharply after the mitigation efforts eased. AT&T's 5G download data speeds rose 79.6% while Verizon's rose 62.1%. The pair's average 5G download speed was what Opensignal called a "statistical tie" at 126.9-132.2Mbps. T-Mobile's 5G download data speeds near these 20 airports did not show any change but the wireless provider's lead in speed at these airports over AT&T and Verizon did narrow.

Before AT&T and Verizon were allowed to increase 5G power levels on their C-band service near the 20 airports and put into operation additional C-band spectrum, T-Mobile's average 5G download speeds were 2.4 times faster than AT&T's and 2.1 times faster than Verizon's. After the easing of the mitigation, T-Mobile's lead has dwindled to 32-37.5%.

Still, results vary greatly depending on which airport you look at. For example, at Boston Logan International, AT&T customers enjoy the fastest average 5G download data speeds at 130.2Mbps which puts it in a statistical tie with T-Mobile's 114.8Mbps. At Chicago O'Hare International, AT&T was tops with an average 5G download data speed of 193.6 and T-Mobile was third with an average speed of 49.6Mbps.

At some airports, such as George Bush Intercontinental in Texas, there is a great disparity in the average 5G download data speeds. At that airport, T-Mobile is the fastest with an average of 120.6Mbps while AT&T was second with an average of 36.4Mbps and in a statistical tie with Verizon's 29.6Mbps.

Of the 20 airports used in the study, T-Mobile had the fastest average 5G download data speeds at 16 of them from August through October. AT&T was next as it had the fastest average at three airports while Verizon had the fastest average 5G download data speed at one airport.

The 20 airports included: