After fight vs. FAA, Verizon’s and AT&T’s new spectrum is boosting 5G speeds
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With AT&T's and Verizon's 5G battle against the aviation industry mostly behind them, the carriers have significantly boosted wireless speeds with their newly deployed spectrum.
From March to September, AT&T users' average download speeds rose 34.6 percent from 50Mbps to 67.3Mbps. Verizon users' average 5G download speeds rose 15.8 percent in the same span, from 70.3Mbps in March to 81.4Mbps in September. The US data is from a report set to be released today by OpenSignal.
The testing firm attributes the speed boosts to AT&T's and Verizon's use of C-band spectrum in the 3.7 GHz range. "C-band explains the jump in users' overall 5G download speeds on both carriers because of its significantly greater capacity than lower-frequency 5G bands," OpenSignal wrote, continuing: