The latest research from OpenSignal reveals that T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ:TMUS) has narrowed the gap with Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the race for the best wireless network in the United States. On Verizon, 4G data speeds came in at 16.8 Mbps while on T-Mobile it was 16.6 Mbps. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) came third with a speed of 13.8 Mbps while Sprint Corp (NYSE:S) was fourth with a speed of 8.9 Mbps. Latency on Verizon for its 4G network was 59.8 ms while that of T-Mobile was 61.6 ms.
An app that is installed on over 170,000 mobile phones in the United States allows OpenSignal to compile the statistics rather than relying on data provided by the firms themselves. The app allows the firm to repeatedly run network tests and gather data on network availability, latency, and speed.
More coverage, reduced gap
Besides speed and latency, the report from OpenSignal reveals that Verizon is also losing ground to T-Mobile with regards to coverage. Subscribers to the Verizon network received coverage 88.1% of the time, which was an improvement from 86.7% a year earlier. T-Mobile’s improvement in coverage was, however, larger having grown from 81.2% to 86.6% in one year.
Though Verizon still emerged as the best network, it was also the most expensive. Prior to an announcement that it will begin offering unlimited data plans to customers beginning this week, Verizon’s data plans were some of the most expensive. It was also, prior to the announcement, the only one among the big four wireless networks not offering unlimited data plans.
Unlimited data plans
Its XXL data plan offering 24GB at a price of $110 each month, for instance, was limiting compared to an unlimited data plan from AT&T priced at under $100. T-Mobile, on the other hand, has been offering an unlimited data plan for just $70 on the condition that customers choose an autopay discount of $5 a month. The best pricing was Sprint’s which offered unlimited data at a price of just $60 per month.
In Friday’s trading session, Verizon Communications Inc rose by 0.35 percent to close the day at $48.98 a share.