Verizon Has Best U.S. LTE Coverage, But T-Mobile Has Fastest Network

• The latest network data shows that South Korea has the best global LTE coverage and New Zealand has the fastest LTE download speed.
• Of the big four U.S. providers, Verizon has the best LTE coverage.
• Of the big four, T-Mobile edges Verizon for the fastest LTE download speed.

A new report by OpenSignal discusses the latest global network coverage statistics. According to the most recent data, the 4G age is coming on strong. Here’s a look at the numbers.

Global Coverage

The study found that South Korea has the best LTE coverage of any country in the world. On average, South Korea users can get an LTE signal 97 percent of the time. The US came in 10th on the list with only 78 percent LTE coverage.

U.S. Coverage

The latest battle in the war between the big four U.S. providers has Verizon Communications Inc VZ winning the 4G race with 84 percent LTE coverage. AT&T Inc. T comes in a close second with 81 percent LTE coverage, while T-Mobile US Inc TMUS registered 77 percent coverage. Sprint Corp S notched the worst LTE coverage score of the four at only 64 percent.

LTE Speed

While the US is near the top of the list in terms of LTE coverage, it is near the bottom in terms of speed. New Zealand currently has the fastest LTE network, with an average download speed of 36 Mbps. The US currently sports a LTE download speed of about 10 Mbps, slightly slower than the speeds found in Mexico and India.

In terms of LTE download speed, T-Mobile has the fastest download speed of the big four U.S. providers at around 12 Mbps. T-Mobile’s speed barely edges out Verizon (12 Mbps) and handily beats AT&T (8 Mbps) and Sprint (6 Mbps).

Globally, the 4G LTE revolution will continue, as the average download speed of 12.6 Mbps is far superior to WiFi, 3G and 2G options.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.