Verizon Wireless was named the top wireless carrier in Michigan and the nation, according to a new study by RootMetrics, an independent mobile analytics firm in Bellevue, Wash.
On a statewide level, Verizon outperformed AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile in reliability, speed, and data performance, the study says. The network also finished first in overall performance in Michigan. For Detroit, specifically, Verizon led the way for all categories with the exception of speed and text performance, which went to T-Mobile.
According to the study’s national results, Verizon swept the overall call, data, and text categories and finished first in the reliability index, making it the nation’s “most reliable network.”
However, the competition was significantly close, with AT&T taking the number one spot as the nation’s fastest network.
“At this point, Verizon and AT&T have broader LTE coverage than the other networks,” says Bill Moore, CEO of RootMetrics. “These two networks had a head start in deploying LTE and it shows in our testing. Things change incredibly quickly as technology upgrades are rolled out and completed. Verizon and AT&T were the leaders in this initial study, but we’re very interested to see how the race shapes up in 2014.”
The national results showed a large gap between AT&T and Verizon when compared with other networks. While less than four points separated Verizon and AT&T in the Overall National RootScore results, the next highest network was 18 points lower. Even so, Moore does not seem concerned about Sprint and T-Mobile’s ability to improve their performance.
“The mobile landscape changes extremely quickly,” Moore says. “At the end of 2012, Verizon had a sizable lead even on AT&T. We’ve seen that gap close in 2013. T-Mobile already often competes from a speed perspective within the metro areas that it now services with LTE. And Sprint continues its LTE rollout as well. There could be more, rather than less, competition in 2014.”
