Analysis of ten 5G operators across US, S. Korea, UK, and Australia finds that while Verizon has the fastest 5G speeds, its users see 5G just 0.5% of the time
Understanding the extent to which 5G improves the mobile experience is critical both for consumers considering upgrading to 5G …
Context & Ripple Effects
Opensignal's ten-operator comparison lands mid-arc in a run of measurement studies puncturing the 5G rollout narrative. Weeks earlier, an Opensignal report put average US 5G speeds at just 1.8x 4G and showed South Korea and Saudi Arabia pulling ahead, and PCMag's 26-city testing found AT&T's 5G often slower than its own 4G.
The new finding sharpens the picture for the US market specifically: Verizon wins on raw speed but delivers 5G to its users only 0.5% of the time — a trade-off that foreshadows the later finding that even by 2021, 5G-capable devices saw mmWave signal less than 1% of the time on every US carrier.
First-order effects
- Verizon customers hold subscriptions to the fastest 5G network among the ten operators studied, yet experience 5G connectivity just 0.5% of the time — meaning most usage still rides on its lower-capacity layers.
- Consumers comparing carriers now face two different value propositions: Verizon-style peak speeds versus rivals whose networks deliver 5G more consistently, making headline speed benchmarks misleading as a purchase guide.
Second-order effects
- Rival carriers can reframe marketing around availability and consistency rather than peak throughput, since Opensignal's methodology gives them a defensible metric where Verizon's mmWave-heavy build-out scores worst.
- Device makers and app developers relying on sustained 5G capacity for high-bandwidth use cases cannot assume it exists for Verizon users, tempering near-term demand for features that require always-on millimeter-wave coverage.
Third-order effects
- If low availability persists across carriers — as the follow-up mmWave measurements suggest it did through 2021 — carrier competition shifts structurally from speed races to coverage density and spectrum deployment strategy, with independent measurement firms like Opensignal becoming the de facto scorekeepers of which operator actually delivered on 5G promises.
- Regulators and consumers gain leverage to demand availability-weighted disclosures instead of peak-speed advertising, pushing the industry toward reporting standards based on how often users see the network rather than how fast it is when they do.
The trend: Mobile network competition is moving from peak-speed bragging rights toward measured availability and real-world consistency, with independent benchmarking exposing the gap between 5G marketing and what subscribers actually experience.