Quantifying the impact of C-band on 5G mobile experience in the US

In this analysis, Opensignal takes its first look at the impact of AT&T and Verizon's C-band launches on the 5G mobile experience. We analyzed the 5G speeds seen on the US carriers when connected to mid-band 5G spectrum, using T-Mobile’s 5G experience on the 2.5 GHz band for comparison because T-Mobile is using 2.5 GHz for a similar purpose to C-band. However, T-Mobile has a head start as it started to deploy mid-band 2.5 GHz for 5G two years ago in April 2020. Now, Opensignal data shows that AT&T and Verizon have started using their C-band spectrum for 5G in very different ways. 5G download speeds are already much faster — three to four times — when connected to mid-band 5G on AT&T and Verizon compared to the average 5G download speeds our users experienced on the two carriers before they activated their C-band networks. Although AT&T and Verizon are still in the early stages of their mid-band 5G rollouts, these results are indicative of the improvement that users can look forward to in the coming years as the two carriers expand their mid-band 5G deployments. While it may be some time before the two carriers can challenge T-Mobile for the 5G Download Speed award — as T-Mobile has had a nearly 22-month head start with its 2.5 GHz spectrum — Opensignal data shows that Verizon and soon AT&T now have the required mid-band spectrum to start the chase.

[Francesco Rizzato is a senior technical analyst at Opensignal.]