AT&T boasts 20%-60% faster wireless speeds than competitors
AT&T, the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the U.S., touted on Monday that a new third-party test found its network is 60 percent faster than competitor Verizon.
AT&T on Monday announced the results of the testing from Global Wireless Solutions Inc. Though the carrier did not specifically name Verizon, it noted that the "largest competitor by subscriber count" has a network 60 percent slower than AT&T's. Verizon is the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. in terms of subscribers, while AT&T ranks a close second.
The third-party test also found that the nearest competitor in terms of wireless speed was 20 percent lower than AT&T's network on average nationally. AT&T's press release did not indicate whether T-Mobile or Sprint was the next-fastest provider.
AT&T noted that it has invested nearly $6 billion in wireless initiatives over the first three quarters of 2010. That's a 55 percent increase over the same period in 2009.
"We're very pleased with the nationwide results of GWS drive testing, which demonstrate that we're delivering a superior mobile broadband experience on a nationwide basis," said John Donovan, AT&T's chief technology officer. "Our top priority for the weeks and months to come is to continue our focus on network enhancements and improvements to ensure continued access to fast mobile broadband speeds and reliable voice service."
The GWS test compiles wireless network performance results over 950,000 road miles in more than 400 U.S. markets. The testing area represents about 88 percent of the U.S. population.
AT&T boasted that its network allows customers to download a 40 megabyte MP3 album more than a minute faster than the next-fastest, unnamed network. AT&T's speeds would also allow an 80 megabyte video to be downloaded about two minutes faster.
The GWS tests also found that 98.59 percent of voice calls on AT&T's network were completed without interruption. The industry's best score, again from an unnamed carrier, had a better score by about one tenth of one percentage point, or one call in 1,000.
AT&T will be able to tout its network speed against Verizon in the first quarter of next year, when the iPhone is expected to be available on both carriers after Apple releases a CDMA version of its smartphone. Numerous mainstream media outlets have said that Apple is preparing for an early 2011 launch of the Verizon iPhone.
AT&T's HSPA+ high-speed network is scheduled to reach more than 250 million Americans by the end of this year. It offers a theoretical download speed of up to 14.4Mbps.
AT&T on Monday announced the results of the testing from Global Wireless Solutions Inc. Though the carrier did not specifically name Verizon, it noted that the "largest competitor by subscriber count" has a network 60 percent slower than AT&T's. Verizon is the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. in terms of subscribers, while AT&T ranks a close second.
The third-party test also found that the nearest competitor in terms of wireless speed was 20 percent lower than AT&T's network on average nationally. AT&T's press release did not indicate whether T-Mobile or Sprint was the next-fastest provider.
AT&T noted that it has invested nearly $6 billion in wireless initiatives over the first three quarters of 2010. That's a 55 percent increase over the same period in 2009.
"We're very pleased with the nationwide results of GWS drive testing, which demonstrate that we're delivering a superior mobile broadband experience on a nationwide basis," said John Donovan, AT&T's chief technology officer. "Our top priority for the weeks and months to come is to continue our focus on network enhancements and improvements to ensure continued access to fast mobile broadband speeds and reliable voice service."
The GWS test compiles wireless network performance results over 950,000 road miles in more than 400 U.S. markets. The testing area represents about 88 percent of the U.S. population.
AT&T boasted that its network allows customers to download a 40 megabyte MP3 album more than a minute faster than the next-fastest, unnamed network. AT&T's speeds would also allow an 80 megabyte video to be downloaded about two minutes faster.
The GWS tests also found that 98.59 percent of voice calls on AT&T's network were completed without interruption. The industry's best score, again from an unnamed carrier, had a better score by about one tenth of one percentage point, or one call in 1,000.
AT&T will be able to tout its network speed against Verizon in the first quarter of next year, when the iPhone is expected to be available on both carriers after Apple releases a CDMA version of its smartphone. Numerous mainstream media outlets have said that Apple is preparing for an early 2011 launch of the Verizon iPhone.
AT&T's HSPA+ high-speed network is scheduled to reach more than 250 million Americans by the end of this year. It offers a theoretical download speed of up to 14.4Mbps.
Comments
As opposed to another third party test that showed Verizon as faster. Of course they did not tell us about that one.
I wonder if this will shut up all those "AT&T sucks" people out there.
Nope. It still sucks for many people. I am not one of them.
I wonder if this will shut up all those "AT&T sucks" people out there.
No. Those people are not on AT&T so nothing has changed for them.
For the record, I've been quite pleased with the 3G service and coverage in Austin, TX. On iPad or iPhone, it's been reliable and fast.
Of course, I've travelled to cities where this wasn't the case - I dropped calls, reception was weak, and data was slow. (Philadelphia, Denver, etc)
Maybe we can at least all agree on the fact that AT&T at least seems to care about it's performance and seems to be spending millions of dollars to meet expectations. When Verizon jumps on board, we'll see how strong they're data network is and how well they respond to complaints.
I consistently get 1.2-1.5Mbps down and 1.2+Mbps upload speeds. (speedtest.net)
I for one am looking forward to all other carriers getting iPhones to take a little stress off AT&T towers and I think it will be even faster.
WTG AT&T !
Testing must have skipped over downtown Chicago. Service here is terrible. hit and miss every few seconds. I loved AT&T when living in Salt Lake City but here in Chicago I'm constantly looking for a wifi hotspot.
You did note that this is a driving around test, not inside of a building. Also since downtown is mostly commercial and not residential the population stats may be skewed away from downtown as well. Concrete and steel are tough to get a signal through.
Testing must have skipped over downtown Chicago. Service here is terrible. hit and miss every few seconds. I loved AT&T when living in Salt Lake City but here in Chicago I'm constantly looking for a wifi hotspot.
It used to be bad but I have not had problems in a long time in downtown Chicago. If you are testing in a building, no cell phone will give you excellent coverage. Even Verizon (who uses a frequency that has slightly better wall penetration) will have trouble with highrises. It is always hit or miss in this case, but most commercial buildings in Chicago will have repeaters to help address this.
As an owner of both, I can say that AT&T HSPA+ is definitely faster then Sprint's 4G service. I am lucky to get 2 Mbit speeds of the Sprint 4G myfi. I think Sprint may be either over selling or not putting enough investment in their backhaul. I travel a lot and there is the occasional city where AT&T is significantly slower despite having a 3G signal though. My guess is that it has something to do with the backhaul.
When I am in DC for work the service is terrible. I get 56k like speeds most of the time and other times I can not connect at all even though I have bars. Calls drop about 1/4 the time in DC.
AT&T still needs work, but it has in some areas gotten better.
I wonder if this will shut up all those "AT&T sucks" people out there.
No, because this is another stupid Att PR press release that happily trumps 60% faster than our next competitor, which means what?
People on Sprint's WiMax network get 14+ mbps on their phones, and that is NET, NOT GROSS bandwidth. Att has NOTHING that can match that.
Sure, their 4G coverage is like nothing. But you can't say that Att is 60% faster than Sprint because Sprint's network isn't just 3G anymore. There has to be several * like "Claim based on average speed", etc.
It's the stupid "We cover more than 95% of America" bull shit when Verizon literally blows Att out of every category in coverage, 3G or not.
T-Mobile claiming 4G anything is also bull shit.
I wonder if this will shut up all those "AT&T sucks" people out there.
Nope, some will always find a reason to complain going to great length to research some article to provide some fact to enforce their hate of at&t. They are simply incapable of thinking otherwise.
No, because this is another stupid Att PR press release that happily trumps 60% faster than our next competitor, which means what?
People on Sprint's WiMax network get 14+ mbps on their phones, and that is NET, NOT GROSS bandwidth. Att has NOTHING that can match that.
Sure, their 4G coverage is like nothing. But you can't say that Att is 60% faster than Sprint because Sprint's network isn't just 3G anymore. There has to be several * like "Claim based on average speed", etc.
It's the stupid "We cover more than 95% of America" bull shit when Verizon literally blows Att out of every category in coverage, 3G or not.
T-Mobile claiming 4G anything is also bull shit.
I can tell you that Sprint 4G may be capable of higher speeds then AT&T HSPA+, but it currently does not deliver. The only advantage to Sprint 4G is no download caps. Sprint claims 3-6 mbit is typical. I find 1-3 mbit is more realistic though. Sure I have found that odd spot that gives you a 7 mbit connection, but it is rare and seems to be related to the tower. 14 mbit is the max sprint allows and you will never see it. I think the technology is capable of around 70 mbit per user in the current iteration. Not sure what the maximum bandwidth for all users is, but I think that depends on tower configuration. My experience is based on Chicago.
I wonder if this will shut up all those "AT&T sucks" people out there.
I wasn't an AT&T hater, but now I live a block away from the largest medical center in the world, the Texas Medical Center in Houston, and I can't even get phone reception in my gd apartment, except maybe if I put my iPhone 4 on the windosil, sometimes.. if I get a page I have to walk out of the building to return it. EFF YOU AT&T !!!
- Verizon CDMA is slow....real slow.
- When AT&T and Verizon both have LTE within the next few months, Verizon still needs to fallback on this slow CDMA network for a long long time. At least AT&T can fallback on a 14.4mbs network, not 3mbs as is the case for Verizon.
Q: If I'm on Verizon's LTE and I fallback to CDMA, what drops first, my voice call or my internet access?AT&T needs to show that they are fixing their coverage problems, not that in 1% of cases they have faster network.
I wasn't an AT&T hater, but now I live a block away from the largest medical center in the world, the Texas Medical Center in Houston, and I can't even get phone reception in my gd apartment, except maybe if I put my iPhone 4 on the windosil, sometimes.. if I get a page I have to walk out of the building to return it. EFF YOU AT&T !!!
You can probably blame this thing called "Physics", not any specific cell phone provider. Wireless signals do not like to penetrate brick, metal, or tinted glass barriers.
I wonder if this will shut up all those "AT&T sucks" people out there.