Verizon Led Rising Tide of US Wireless Network Performers in First Half

Carrier infrastructure investments as they prepare for a broader 5G rollout are “paying off in clear-cut quality improvement” in phone calls and streaming media and app use, reported J.D. Power Thursday. Verizon ranked highest, achieving the lowest network quality problems per 100 connections in call, messaging and data quality in each U.S. region. T-Mobile tied Verizon in Northeast data quality January-July. Another researcher gave Verizon high marks last week (see 1907150041). Tuesday, IHS Markit reported Verizon “maintained its edge” over competitors at all levels of testing, while all four carriers delivered faster speeds in the first half "with 5G rollouts on the horizon.” Other findings are all four major carriers improved speeds in U.S. metropolitan areas vs. second half 2018. AT&T made “impressive speed gains,” expanding the number of markets -- from six to 36 -- where it delivers median download speeds of at least 40 Mbps. Sprint made speed improvements, reaching median download speeds of 30 Mbps or faster in 34 metro markets, up from 10 in second-half 2018. Verizon’s fastest media download speed was 67.8 Mbps in Dayton, Ohio. Maintaining a robust LTE network will be critical in the 5G era because users won't experience 5G service 100 percent of the time, said IHS, "especially in the early phases of deployments.”