Either AT&T or Verizon Has the Faster LTE Network, Depending on Which of Two New Studies You Believe

With the battle over LTE now heating up, both Verizon and AT&T are eager to tout the benefits of their networks.

And, depending on which of two studies you believe, both can lay claim to having the fastest network.

AT&T is pushing a PCWorld study that found its network to be the faster of the two.

“In our tests, AT&T’s new LTE network pumped out the fastest speeds of any 4G provider,” PCWorld senior editor Mark Sullivan said in a statement.

Verizon, meanwhile, calls attention to a RootMetrics study that finds that it has the better-performing of the LTE networks.

“While AT&T outperformed Verizon in pure LTE download speeds, Verizon had the clear upper hand in the more meaningful real-world experience of average download and upload speeds,” RootMetrics president Bill Moore said in a post on GigaOM. “AT&T’s LTE might be faster, but our overall experience with AT&T was still slower than what we found with Verizon.”

One thing is clear: Verizon’s network covers more ground. The company is launching more cities this week and with those will have two-thirds of the U.S. population covered. AT&T’s network is still smaller, but it is rapidly adding cities as well.

Sprint, meanwhile, is just gearing up to launch LTE, while T-Mobile is aiming to launch an LTE network next year.