Rootmetrics, a company that collects mobile data through scientific and crowdsource methods, released an online report on mobile service in the U.S.
The company collected mobile network data for top 125 cities in the U.S. and ranked them on reliability, speed, data, text and call performance. Each of the major carriers: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile were included.
Verizon edged out AT&T in virtually every category except texting. The two companies were tied for best in many markets. T-Mobile was rated superior or tied for first in some regions, most notably San Diego, San Jose, and Boston. Sprint was never ahead of the pack, but tied for first in Las Vegas and six other cities.
The top 5 metro areas in the rankings were as follows:
1) Atlanta, Georgia
2) Chicago, Illinois
3) Knoxville, Tennessee
4) Nashville, Tennessee
5) Jacksonville, Florida
The five metro areas at the bottom of the list were as follows:
125) Hudson Valley, New York
124) Reno, Nevada
123) Omaha, Nebraska
122) Colorado Springs, Colorado
121) El Paso, Texas
Denver barely squeaked past the bottom five and had the worst performance among the nation’s largest cities.
New York City and the Tri-State area, which is most populous ranked 74 out of 125 cities in overall performance. Los Angeles, the second largest city ranked worse at 89. Philadelphia (#39), Boston (#60) and Washington D.C. (#67) had fair-to-middling rankings.
Despite so many major U.S. cities faring poorly, Atlanta and Chicago rose to the top. Atlantans using Verizon or AT&T had equally excellent service, with T-Mobile coming in third and Sprint last. Chicago was nearly tied with Atlanta in performance scores. Again Verizon and AT&T tied for top provider, but Sprint came in third and T-Mobile last.
Interactive map to explore individual city data
PC Mag had conducted its own mobile speed tests in 30 U.S. cities and published its results in July. The publication went on road trips to the cities and measured performance not only citywide, but also in surrounding suburbs and internal neighborhoods. Their results differ from Rootmetrics in some areas, but they agreed that mobile speeds have gotten considerably better from past years.
While some may want to put their city in the bottom for slow download speeds, dropped calls and spotty service, networks have improved in many places.
The company, which has been collecting data and issuing reports over several years notes that cities can improve dramatically in service. Knoxville and Nashville’s high placement was due to service upgrades by Sprint and T-Mobile. As carriers compete with each other, they are compelled to improve service.
