So far, Verizon has moved its 5G coverage on millimeter wave to the top of the list for 5G network performance. But as networks continue to evolve, we are starting to see some changes, highlighted by the latest performance tester from network tester Ookla covering the last three months of 2020.
According to Ookla, AT&T 5G is the reigning champion during the fourth quarter of last year, which shocked us almost as much as it probably shocked you. This is a reasonable shift, especially since Ookla recently rated Verizon as the third quarter of 2020 as the best performing 5G network, when the carrier’s speed score was 792.5. The dwarfed AT & T’s second-best score of 65.22.
For the fourth quarter, however, AT & T’s 5G speed score rose to 75.59, while Verizon dropped to 67.07.
The big drop in Verizon’s score can be attributed to Verizon’s broader implementation of its 5G network to more markets. In October, with the launch of the iPhone 12, Big Red moved beyond mmWave 5G to include sub 6Hz spectrum in its network. This kind of 5G covers more people – Verizon now says that its 5G network reaches 230 million people – but it is also much slower than mmWave. And more people getting a slower speed on a network will drop the speed score, according to Ookla.
With this overall drop in speed, Verizon now sits at the bottom of the 5G stack behind T-Mobile and Sprint (both of which were measured separately despite their 2020 merger). In terms of overall performance – LTE and 5G – Ookla also ranks AT&T number 1 for the eighth consecutive quarter. T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon close out the latest rankings.
It remains to be seen whether AT&T and T-Mobile will experience similar declines in their scores as more and more people participate in the 5G revolution. 2021 is looking for an interesting year in terms of 5G performance.