AT&T Tops Verizon In iPhone Data Speed

When Apple released the iPhone on Verizon's network, the million-dollar question was how the phone performs relative to its AT&T counterpart.

The answer, previously confined mostly to anecdotal evidence and carrier estimates, has been put to the test via an independent study conducted by performance evaluation company Metrico Wireless.

Rather than offer a clear winner, Metrico's results suggest that the differences in performance between the AT&T and Verizon versions of the iPhone depend on how the phone is used.

This lead to the study's most significant result: Download speeds on AT&T's network more than double those on Verizon's own.

Upload and download speeds, however, had little effect on the average web page load time, which stayed the same across both carriers.

Metrico also found surprising results in how the two networks handle travelling iPhones. AT&T holds the advantage here, allowing moving iPhones on its network to complete more downloads relative to phones on Verizon's network. Verizon's network, on the other hand, is more successful at uploading data.

Metrico based its results on studies conducted in five cities, which the company says explains why their results differ from those conducted previously by other firms. New York, Chicago, Seattle, Baltimore-Washington, and Dallas were all included in the study.

To contact the reporter responsible for this story call (646) 461 7294 or email r.bilton@ibtimes.com.