Ookla analyzed early 5G Speedtest results following recent rollouts of C-band and found major speed increases for Verizon as the carrier came out strong just a week after activating the new spectrum.
Overall, 5G median download speeds of operators combined jumped 13% week over week following the deployment of new mid-band spectrum. That was largely seen by a massive 50% boost to Verizon speeds following the January 19 launch, which resulted in median download speeds of 116.29 Mbps, up from 76.51 Mbps prior, according to Ookla.
T-Mobile and AT&T on a nationwide basis stayed relatively the same. That makes sense given AT&Tās limited C-band deployment in eight markets and T-Mobile which hasnāt turned on new spectrum (although it did add carrier aggregation capabilities). Even without new spectrum, itās worth noting T-Mobileās median download 5G speed increased 1% and at 187.11 Mbps was still faster than Verizon. AT&Tās similar 1% drove speeds to 70.46 Mbps.
Verizon has already shown significant speed improvements from its initial C-band rollout. (Ookla)
āThis massive improvement in speed shows the power of Verizonās widespread deployment of C-band spectrum and C-bandās ability to deliver fast speeds,ā wrote Ookla, adding that if the trend continues it could lead to the carrier challenging T-Mobile on the metric in the next report based on quarterly data.
Ookla pointed out that the testing company did see a spike in Speedtests initially, (noting thatās why reports usually have at least one quarter of data), particularly for Verizon and those who could see an Ultra Wideband icon show up on their phone for the first time.
Ookla also looked at week on week performance in five cities where AT&T and Verizon both turned on new mid-band in the 3.7-3.8 GHz range. Verizon download speeds saw double-digit increases in two cities: Fort Worth, Texas, up 21 %; and Jacksonville, Florida, up 28%. AT&T saw 5G download speeds jump 12% in Austin. The other two cities of Chicago and Houston didnāt record bumps, and the latter actually decreased from a high for Verizon the prior week. T-Mobile still significantly outpaced AT&T and Verizon in all five cities.
Verizon has already expanded its C-band coverage, announcing Monday that it hit 100 million PoPs, up from 95 million the week before.
In Chicago, testing from PCMag showed AT&Tās C-band activation tripling average speeds (reaching 302 Mbps) compared to the carrierās performance in the rest of the city. Granted, that was based off of one site located on Chicagoās South Side ā the only one the outlet could track down driving across the city.
PCMag testing in New York City neighborhoods the week of C-band launches showed Verizon peak download speeds of 733 Mbps, with a median of 534 Mbps in the best performing areas and medians of around 100 Mbps in the worst performing.
AT&T, T-Mobile played smart at mid-band auctions ā analyst
For Verizon, the almost immediate speed increases show that the carrierās bid to obtain a greater amount of early A-block C-band licenses is paying off for those paying attention to speed tests.
Roger Entner, principal and founder of Recon Analytics, wasnāt surprised by the quick improvement Ookla showed, noting much of the carrierās base was already seeded with 5G phones capable of tapping C-band as recent generations of iPhones and flagship Samsung phones support the airwaves.
āYou had [C-band support] in your phone, you just didnāt know it because the network was missing,ā he said.
Seeding the base with C-band capable smartphones was something Verizon executives had planned for with earlier 5G upgrade promos as they geared up for the rollout.
However, when it comes to competition with AT&T and T-Mobile ā Entner believes T-Mobile is still feeling good about its mid-band head start, having also secured spectrum at both the C-band and recent 3.45 GHz auction (though not as much as its competitors at either) to not let the gap with AT&T and Verizon close too much. AT&T also bought 3.45 GHz licenses, an average of 40 MHz nationwide, spending around $9 billion. In addition to 3.45 GHz, AT&T holds around 40 MHz of the āA-blockā C-band licenses.
From that perspective, āI thought both T-Mobile and especially AT&T played these two auctions very very smartly,ā Entner said. āWhereas Verizon went for simplicity and paid the price for it.ā
Verizon went big on A-block C-band licenses, which are the first available across the top 46 partial economic (PEAs) areas. It holds 60 MHz of the first C-band tranche, and spent over $45 billion for its total C-band winnings.
Eventually Verizon will have around 100 MHz of C-band in top markets and sometimes 200 MHz in rural markets, the latter which āwill bode really wellā for the carrier and its fixed wireless ambitions, Entner said.
āWhereas AT&T by not going gangbusters, probably saved $10-15 billion dollarsā or in that neighborhood and still going to get 80 MHz nationwide from A-block C-band and 3.45 GHz āā¦so mission accomplished.ā
Need for speed?
Itās also worth considering different motivations behind strategies, with Entner calling out Verizonās desire to maintain its network leader standing and perception.
He highlighted that Verizon has been competing on perception (and often times fact) of best network for the last 10-15 years, and its āsomething they were desperate to get back through the C-band auction.ā And while its C-band winnings gets Verizon close to what T-Mobile had from a mid-band spectrum perspective, customers already still feel Verizon has a top notch network.
Based on a monthly survey that Recon Analytics conducts of 3,000 wireless, āthe network perception of Verizon is still head above shoulders that of the other two nationwide providers,ā Entner said particularly among the carrierās own customers. āAnd Verizon will continue to play at that.ā
AT&T on the other hand, was looking at which use cases actually require the kinds of speeds now possible with additional spectrum (as Ookla results showed for Verizon), of which Entner said there arenāt that many that need more than 25 Mbps other than streaming 4K video. He sees two different goals of playing to speed test audiences and being competitive overall.
āJust like T-Mobile has shown for a really long time, and AT&T is showing now, you donāt need to have the fastest network to win the most customers,ā Entner said.
AT&T has been posting big subscriber figures for several quarters, including the most recent Q4 where it added 884,000 postpaid net phones. Verizonās added 558,000 net postpaid phones in Q4 while preliminary metrics from T-Mobile put net phone adds at 844,000.
As for 3.45 GHz and C-band deployment strategy, AT&T has said its going to deploy both spectrum bands simultaneously using one tower climb once dual-band radios are available later this year. That pushes its timeline out somewhat farther than Verizon which already covers significantly more people with C-band than AT&T.
But Entner said AT&Tās one climb strategy makes a lot of sense because the carrier is already winning customers without having the fastest network.
ā[AT&T] is doing well as it is and thereās no app right now that actually demands all these speeds,ā he commented. āSo you can do things fast or you can do things smart and theyāre doing it smart.ā
He said it means AT&T could launch with 80 MHz and end up having more mid-band 5G spectrum online nationwide before Verizon, potentially having a faster network in much of the country for a short period of time before Verizonās additional C-band is ready to be activated.
And when it comes to using one tower climb to deploy both 3.45 GHz and C-band, Entner said T-Mobile can do exactly the same thing, where the equipment or spectrum will just become activated a little bit later once the second tranches of C-band, not expected until 2023, are ready for use.
That is unless, of course, drama with the FAA that preceded the initial C-band launch kicks up again before that round of deployments.
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