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Verizon still on top and T-Mobile still struggling, according to RootMetrics
- RootMetrics posted its results from the last half of 2017.
- As with previous reports, Verizon tops in nearly all categories, while T-Mobile is mostly last once again.
- T-Mobile’s CTO had harsh words for the report and RootMetrics’ methodology.
If you’ve ever read a RootMetrics report before, you are used to seeing one company dominate pretty much every category: Verizon. Whether the test is on coverage, speed, or call reliability, Verizon tends to own the other three major U.S. carriers by a longshot.
As such, the latest RootMetrics report for the second half of 2017 is not all that surprising. The overall national score for Verizon’s service was 95, while AT&T came in second at 92.8. Sprint held onto third place with 87.8, and T-Mobile came in last with 86.8.
RootMetrics obtains its data privately by using unmodified Android smartphones on a variety of networks, in a variety of places, at varying times. It samples areas in all 50 states and compiles the data into a national score as well as a per-state score, so wireless consumers can get an unbiased look at how each carrier’s service will work for them.
T-Mobile, never happy with its consistent fourth place billing, is often publicly critical of RootMetrics’ methodology. The company claims that the data RootMetrics collects comes from “paid consultants” and that the only true way to establish an unbiased coverage dataset is to use crowdsourcing. OpenSignal, the company T-Mobile offers as an alternative data source, has T-Mobile neck-and-neck with Verizon when it comes to speed and a close race when it comes to 4G LTE availability.
Predictably, it wasn’t long before T-Mobile made a statement about the latest RootMetrics report. Here’s what CTO of T-Mobile Neville Ray had to say:
Big Red is clearly rattled, but buying awards won’t bring back their glory days. T-Mobile has closed the network gap, and the awards that matter – those from real customers on all networks – tell you all you need to know: T-Mobile customers are the most satisfied and are more likely to recommend us. They get an LTE signal more reliably and have the fastest LTE. Those are the reasons why millions of Verizon customers have flocked to T-Mobile.