CPUC Finds Faster, Less Consistent Average Mobile Data Speeds
Mobile data speeds in California are getting faster but less consistent, according to the California Public Utilities Commission mobile field testing program. In a blog post Tuesday, CPUC Senior Analyst Rob Osborn said average download speeds increased in spring 2016…
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from six months before, but so did the standard deviation from the mean. “For one session, you might get 2 megabits per second, and another session, 24.” Osborn said it’s “hard to say” what that means, “but it appears the likelihood of getting the average speed at a particular location is lower than before.” Verizon average downstream speed increased by about 2 Mbps to 16 Mbps from fall 2015 to spring 2016, AT&T speeds increased the same amount to 14 Mbps, and T-Mobile increased by about 1 Mbps to 13 Mbps, CPUC found. Sprint average download speeds remained flat at slightly more than 8 Mbps. But over the same time period the standard deviation as a percentage of the downstream speed also increased: to 42 percent from 35 percent for Verizon, to 44 percent from 35 percent for AT&T, to 46 percent from 36 percent for T-Mobile, and to 43 percent from 40 percent for Sprint. The numbers show industry upgrades aren't keeping up with Californians' demand, said Tellus Venture President Steve Blum, a broadband consultant for local governments. “Mobile carriers are investing in more and better infrastructure, but judging from the CPUC’s measurements, not quickly enough to keep pace with Californians,” he wrote in a blog post Wednesday.