T-Mobile US aggregates 600MHz, 2.5GHz bands across ‘much of network’

The best just keeps getting better. T-Mobile – the most awarded 5G network in the U.S. – has earned yet another CLEAN SWEEP in a new independent third-party report published today by Ookla®! The report shows T-Mobile customers get the best network experience across the board in all six performance categories, including 5G speed, performance and availability as well as network speeds overall. This, as umlaut published results from eight major cities showing T-Mobile provides the fastest 5G speeds and greatest average 5G availability. And the Un-carrier’s 5G network is only going to get better as T-Mobile expands and improves 5G Carrier Aggregation (NR CA), now combining two channels of 2.5 GHz Ultra Capacity 5G spectrum to increase capacity for customers and expanding NR CA to cities across the country.

And T-Mobile isn’t stopping there! In its never-ending quest to drive the industry forward, the company recently reached record-breaking 5G upload speeds with 5G Dual Connectivity. In a test with Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., T-Mobile exceeded 1 Gbps on upload (1005 Mbps to be exact) by combining 2.5 GHz Ultra Capacity spectrum with millimeter wave using a smartphone test device powered by Snapdragon® X65 5G Modem-RF System! Now THAT is fast!

“Today’s wins confirm what over a dozen other studies have found in the last year: T-Mobile 5G is #1 in performance and coverage,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “Our competitors are years behind and scrambling to catch up. We’ll keep blazing ahead, reaching more and more people with Ultra Capacity 5G and spearheading new technologies. This is what you get when you combine the best 5G network with the hardest working team in the industry.”

In Ookla’s Q4 US Speedtest Global Market Analysis measuring nationwide network performance, T-Mobile took the top spot in ALL SIX network performance categories measured: Fastest Provider, Latency, Consistency, 5G Performance, 5G Availability, and 5G Consistency. T-Mobile’s rapid rollout of Ultra Capacity 5G drove a nearly 40% increase in median 5G download speeds from Q3, now clocking in at 187 Mbps nationwide. That’s faster than most home Wi-Fi and over 2x faster than Verizon 5G and over 2.5x faster than AT&T 5G. T-Mobile customers were also able to connect to 5G significantly more often than both Verizon and AT&T customers.

Research firm umlaut also published results for a report commissioned by T-Mobile, after examining 5G performance in Atlanta, Birmingham, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, and Seattle. T-Mobile’s average 5G download speeds across the eight cities clocked in at 261 Mbps – more than 2x faster than Verizon 5G and nearly 4x faster than AT&T 5G in those cities. Testers were able to get a 5G signal on T-Mobile 96% of the time, versus just 88% of the time with AT&T and a sad 59% of the time with Verizon 5G.

T-Mobile’s industry-leading 5G speeds are only getting speedier. The Un-carrier announced today it’s launching new capabilities with 5G Carrier Aggregation (NR CA), now combining two channels of 2.5 GHz mid-band spectrum for greater speed and capacity. If you’re not an industry-insider, that means T-Mobile basically took two highways and merged them into one superhighway. Now traffic can go much faster with less congestion and more roadway/capacity.

5G standards set the maximum bandwidth for a sub-6 GHz 5G channel at 100 MHz of spectrum, which is a lot of capacity … but it can get better. With NR CA, T-Mobile is able to provide customers with more than 100 MHz of 2.5 GHz Ultra Capacity 5G spectrum (beginning with 120 MHz in places) meaning customers in those areas will see a significant boost in speed and performance. Early tests show 2.5 GHz NR CA can improve speeds by approximately 20%, and that devices reach speeds greater than 100 Mbps twice as often as those without NR CA! Additionally, T-Mobile has expanded NR CA with 2.5GHz and 600 MHz to cities across the country. These capabilities are live across much of T-Mobile’s network today for customers with the Samsung Galaxy S21 and another popular flagship device, becoming more broadly available – with additional devices – in the coming months.

CT Bureau