Global Wireless Solutions (GWS) released the results of its Nationwide Connectivity Experience Awards. T-Mobile earned the award for "Best Mobile Experience," and Verizon won "Best Broadband Experience." AT&T was awarded the "Best Combined Connectivity Experience" for overall performance of its combined mobile and broadband offering.
The results follow six months of data collection from GWS’s opt-in consumer panel of 104,000+ adult participants where the company collected data points and conducted tests related to throughput, reliability, packet loss, and latency involving the U.S.’s major mobile operators and ISPs.
In addition to the awards, GWS also collected and analyzed app engagement and consumer sentiment data from mobile users, providing further insights into the overall user experience.
Mobile Experience and 5G
In terms of what people are doing on their phones, GWS data showed that people spend most of their time on mobile devices accessing social media, communications, and navigation apps. People spend over 50% of their time on just 10 mobile apps, with Facebook at the top, followed by YouTube, Chrome Browser, TikTok, Google Maps, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Google Messages, Snapchat, and Gmail.
Despite the prominence of online search and social media, when U.S. consumers were surveyed and asked to choose one activity as the sole function of their phone, texting/messaging came out as the most popular choice.
T-Mobile
When looking at only 5G, T-Mobile also showed the best 5G mobile experience because it had the highest throughput speeds, lowest latency, and lowest packet loss.
T-Mobile consumers were also more likely than the average American to say that it was important to have a 5G signal wherever they are – 47% versus 40% for the national average.
GWS also reported that it appears that more U.S. consumers than not are seeing a tangible impact from advanced network connectivity – when asked about their thoughts on 5G, just 19% of consumers felt they were unable to tell if their performance was better or not when on 5G.
Verizon
Based on performance test results of the U.S.’s major nationwide ISPs, GWS found that Verizon has the Best Broadband Experience out of all ISPs tested.
Performance metrics measured were reliability, latency, upload and download network available throughputs, FCC broadband benchmark, delivered throughputs, and packet loss.
Verizon, Xfinity, Cox, and Spectrum all had mean download throughputs above 150Mbps. On the flip side, Cox and Spectrum had much slower upload speeds (both below 40Mbps) when compared to Verizon and AT&T (both above 90Mbps).
All ISPs tested were similar when it came to task reliability, with each scoring near or just over 99%.
Xfinity came out on top for the percentage of time that their consumers experienced speeds over the FCC broadband benchmark (an updated baseline throughput standard announced by the FCC in March 2024 of 100Mbps for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads).
The data shows that Xfinity consumers exceed this benchmark 41% of the time (average across all ISPs was 33%). When looking at the inverse of this statistic, it suggests that reaching this benchmark on a consistent basis may prove challenging for the broadband industry as two-thirds of the time study participants did not experience throughputs above the benchmark when tested.
AT&T
GWS analyzed the performance of partner network bundles across ISP and mobile and found AT&T to have the Best Combined Connectivity Experience. The award is the U.S.’s only performance measure that brings together results from across both mobile operators and ISP partners in one score.
Performance metrics measured were reliability, latency, upload and download network available throughputs, delivered throughputs, and packet loss.
GWS tests found that the AT&T bundle performed the best when factoring in the combination of metrics tested. In terms of mean download throughputs, AT&T, Spectrum, and Xfinity easily topped 125Mbps.
However, for upload AT&T had the fastest average combined speed (100Mpbs), doubling the average speeds provided by the nearest competitor (Verizon at around 50Mbps). When it came to reliability, AT&T and Verizon scored the highest; both were above 99% with T-Mobile, Spectrum, and Xfinity at or below 99%.
Bundling
GWS consumer polling found that the desire to switch to a bundle deal is a key factor for consumers when assessing their mobile operator or broadband provider.
Over half (52%) of U.S. consumers are considering bundle packages and their associated perks when deciding a service plan.
This article is a summary. For more from GWS report, as well as details about the methodology and data collection, you can view the whole report here.