Mobile carriers in Grand Rapids ranked

Mobile carriers in Grand Rapids ranked

Fifty-eight percent of American adults have a smartphone, as of January 2014, according to the Pew Research Center. Courtesy Thinkstock

Which mobile carrier is the best performer in Grand Rapids? Rootscore has an answer for you.

To create its annual report — called Rootscore — on mobile carrier performance, RootMetrics, an organization that evaluates mobile network performance, drove more than 850 miles, visited two dozen indoor locations and ran approximately 17,800 data, call and text tests in the Grand Rapids area from June 8-12 to test the categories of reliability, speed, data performance, call performance and text performance.

The four top contenders in each category were Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. In Rootscore’s last report, released in August 2013, AT&T solidly won every category. This time around, however, Rootscore reported that AT&T and Verizon had tied for first place. Verizon, which Rootscore also ranked first in its national numbers as the overall best performer, pulled a little bit ahead of AT&T numbers-wise, but not enough to keep Rootscore from awarding both a spot at the top of the best overall performance list.

Verizon and AT&T also tied for first in the categories of reliability index and speed index.

“This marks the fifth time we’ve tested the Grand Rapids market. Our previous round of testing occurred in August 2013. Since August testing, T-Mobile launched LTE service, and Verizon deployed its Advanced Wireless Service spectrum in the area,” reads the report. “All four major networks in the Grand Rapids area now offer LTE service. Verizon and AT&T shared the Overall RootScore Award. During our previous visit, AT&T won the award.”

In the category of data performance, Verizon scored the highest, followed by AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. In the area of call performance, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint all finished in a tie for first. The area of text performance saw a number of ties, with Verizon and AT&T tying for first, and T-Mobile and Sprint tying for third.

“Verizon won the Data RootScore Award. AT&T won the award during our previous two visits,” reads the report. “Verizon recorded the fastest median download and upload speeds at 28.5 Mbps and 9.0 Mbps, respectively.”

Rootscore’s report is available on its website