Verizon and T-Mobile have fastest US mobile internet speeds

According to the latest  Speedtest Market Report in the US, the annual analysis of broadband speeds across the country, domestic mobile internet speeds have improved by more than 30% since last year, with an average download speed of 19.27 megabits per second through the first six months of 2016. 

Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile US achieve download speeds in excess of 21 Mbps, with nearly identical results. Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile US have less than 5% separating their average download speeds since the beginning of 2015.

T-Mobile US took the top spot for fastest upload speeds, exceeding 11 Mbps in testing. T-Mobile US has had the fastest upload speed since 2014. The carrier’s upload speed of 11.59 Mbps was more than 40% faster than any of the other major carriers.

The four major U.S. mobile carriers – Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile US, AT&T Mobility and Sprint – are all closely competing to be the fastest provider. This fierce competition is leading to improvements in mobile download and upload speeds said the report.

The typical fixed broadband consumer in the U.S. saw average download speeds greater than 50 Mbps for the first time during the first six months of 2016, plateauing at 54.97 Mbps in June.

This is a 42% increase in download speed year-over-year. However, 50 Mbps is a fraction of the speed offered by gigabit fiber optic internet. Upload speed saw a larger increase, improving by over 50% since last year, with the average consumer receiving an upload speed of 18.88 Mbps.

However, according to a recent Broadband Progress Report released by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 10% of Americans lack access to the FCC target speeds of 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload said the Speedtest’s authors.

This number increases to 39% when looking at rural populations. It’s important, however, that the largest concentration of the U.S. population resides in urban areas.

Average mobile internet speeds are faster than they were a year ago, with download speeds up by 33% and upload speeds improved by 28%. However, download speed growth only improved by 5% to reach 19.61 Mbps during the first six months of 2016.

Average upload speeds saw a slight drop to 7.94 Mbps.

When tested over LTE connections, T-Mobile US performed the best with an average download speed of 22.11 Mbps. Verizon Wireless came second with an average download speed of 21.32 Mbps, and AT&T Mobility and Sprint followed with 20.05 Mbps and 15.8 Mbps, respectively.

Verizon Wireless was the winner, with 98% of test samples from LTE-capable devices taking place on its LTE network. T-Mobile US came in second at 95%, followed by AT&T Mobility and Sprint, which tied at 93%.