Ookla’s network testing report for the first half of 2025 reveals strong tailwinds for T-Mo in mobile, but AT&T shines in wireline
In sum – what to know:
T-Mobile’s stunning speeds – T-Mobile US was clocked at a median download speed of more than 245 Mbps across all technologies, and nearly 300 Mbps download speeds for 5G in Ookla’s network testing for the first half of 2025. Verizon and AT&T trailed well behind those numbers.
AT&T tops fiber providers – AT&T edged out Frontier for the fastest fiber network, and also won kudos from customers.
Where’s Verizon? – First in video streaming categories. Second in median 5G speeds. Third place in fiber network speeds.
T-Mobile US has had quite a week, between its stellar second-quarter results and Ookla releasing its network testing results from the first half of 2025, which resulted in a slew of category awards for the mobile network operator.
T-Mo had already claimed Ookla’s “best network” award a month ago, based on six months of testing across the fourth quarter of 2024 and first quarter of 2025. This week, Ookla released awards based on its testing in the first and second quarters of this year. T-Mobile’s lead held, and it was named best mobile network in the United States during 1H 2025 —m across all technologies combined, and also specifically for 5G.
The carrier recorded a median download speed of 245.48 Mbps across all network technologies combined. Comparatively, Verizon came in second with at just 116.34 Mbps, with AT&T close behind at 115.09 Mbps. Verizon fared somewhat better on the 5G front, clocking a median download speed of nearly 215 Mbps, while AT&T trailed in at a median 5G downlink speed of 158.56 Mbps. Neither came close to T-Mo’s median 5G download speed of 299.36 Mbps.
Other notable mobile network results included Verizon and AT&T besting T-Mo on best combined mobile coverage — however, T-Mo came out on top in 5G availability, with AT&T on its heels while Verizon customers spent considerably less time on 5G, according to Ookla’s network testing. Verizon did get Ookla’s top spots for video streaming, both across technologies and for 5G video streaming specifically.
AT&T led in fiber speeds and satisfaction
Meanwhile, on the wireline front, AT&T’s focus on fiber investments appears to be paying off. The company was narrowly rated the fastest fiber internet service provider in the United States during the first half of 2025, achieving a median download speed of 363.54 Mbps and a median upload speed of 296.52 Mbps.
AT&T’s closest fiber competitors on speeds Frontier Fiber, which saw median download speeds of 359.06 Mbps, followed by Cox with 291.92 Mbps, according to Ookla’s network testing.
On a regional basis, AT&T Fiber was the fastest provider across 14 U.S. regions, with Comcast’s Xfinity service winning in eight other regions.
Ookla also included a category which looked at consumer sentiment about fiber service providers into account — and AT&T was the leader in that assessment as well.
AT&T said in June that it had surpassed 30 million locations passed with fiber broadband, achieving the milestone ahead of schedule. According to CEO John Stankey, the telco is now halfway to its goal of reaching approximately 60 million fiber locations by 2030.
The company continues to expand via acquisition as well, with its pending $5.75 billion all-cash deal to acquire Lumen’s Mass Markets fiber business. That transaction will give AT&T about 1 million customers and 4 million fiber locations across 11 states. It is expected to close in the first half of 2026.
Specifically, AT&T will acquire Lumen’s last-mile mass market fiber assets and “associated network elements in central offices”, plus “substantially all” of Lumen’s non-enterprise fiber customers, which will be transitioned over time to become AT&T Fiber customers.
Read the details from Ookla here.
