According to a recent analysis by RootMetrics, Verizon is the number one network in the United States in terms of performance. The carrier ranked number one in all categories except for text messaging service.
Verizon was given a performance score of 93.9 out of 100, while AT&T scored 91.7, Sprint scored 86.6, and T-Mobile lagged behind with a score of 84.0.
The rating was given for carrier performance during the second half of 2014. Rootmetrics conducted more than 5.7 million tests, and traveled over 288,165 miles to carry out the analysis.
Below is an image showing how the major carriers performed in data performance, call performance, and text performance.
Source: United States | 2nd Half 2014 – “National Rootscore Report” – RootMetrics.
In terms of reliability Verizon was given a score of 95.5. AT&T was given a score of 93.8. Sprint was given a score of 90.9, while T-Mobile was given a score of 85.4.
In terms of speed Verizon was also number one (89.0), followed by AT&T (85.5), with T-Mobile in third place (79.1), and Sprint came last as the slowest (71.0).
T-Mobile was the only carrier to not score in the 90s in any category.
Jeff Kagan, industry watcher and telecom analyst, said:
“These current RootMetric results show that customers are noticing the improvement at Sprint, pushing the wireless carrier ahead of T-Mobile once again. This is less about a problem with T-Mobile and more about the strengthening of Sprint.”
According to RootMetrics:
“We distill thousands of independent, consumer-focused tests into RootScores that let you compare the networks at a glance and make more informed mobile decisions. It’s simple: the higher the RootScore, the better the performance.”
“RootScore Reports are analytical assessments of mobile network performance that we fund and conduct independently: we have sole control and sole responsibility for the research design, methodology, data collection, and reporting. The goal of these reports is to provide accurate and comparable assessments of operators’ network performance: to achieve both accuracy and comparability requires that we use a standardized methodology.”
“The RootMetrics testing methodology is guided by two fundamental standards:
1) Testing mobile network performance from a consumer’s point of view.
2) Providing objective, accurate, and unbiased assessments of performance in helpful and easy-to-understand terms.”