The latest report from RootMetrics®, an IHS Markit company and the gold standard for mobile performance benchmarking, shows Verizon provides the top mobile experience in the Washington, D.C. area, sweeping the awards for the first time since 2016. In the 1st Half 2018 Washington, D.C. Metro RootScore Report, Verizon earns outright wins in five of the six categories tested, including awards for overall performance, network reliability, and network speed.  

While Verizon also takes first place outright for data performance, all the mobile carriers make strides in this category. T-Mobile records the fastest median upload speed at 19.5 Mbps, allowing subscribers to upload a picture to social media in less than two seconds. When it comes to download speeds, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon all provide top median rates ranging between 29.5 Mbps and 31.2 Mbps. Meanwhile, Sprint makes big data performance improvements in Washington, D.C., increasing its median download speed from 10.2 Mbps to 15.4 Mbps.  

"Our analysis of the mobile experience in Washington, D.C. has one big takeaway – data performance is a top priority for the carriers," said Doug King, director of business development at RootMetrics. "Although Verizon takes the top spot in this category, it's clear that all the networks are making investments to increase speed and reliability, with improvements across the board. This is great news for subscribers across the D.C. metro area that rely on their mobile devices for everything from streaming TV shows to posting on social media."