Verizon is still the main U.S. carrier putting millimeter-wave 5G into places where ordinary customers might actually encounter it, according to new Ookla data published April 13.
Ookla said its RootMetrics drive and walk testing found Verizon mmWave connections in 91 of the 125 large U.S. metropolitan markets it tests during the second half of 2025. That was up from 75 markets in the first half of 2024. AT&T appeared in far fewer markets, and T-Mobile's mmWave network showed up in one metro market in the same period, according to Ookla.
The numbers are a useful correction to the tidy 5G marketing story. mmWave did not become the universal wireless-fiber future that carriers were selling in the industry's early 5G fever. It also did not vanish. It became a short-range capacity layer, and Verizon, because of spectrum purchases and small-cell deployment, is using it more than its rivals.
Verizon is the outlier
Across all RootMetrics testing in the second half of 2025, including metro and state-area routes, mmWave appeared in 2.2% of Verizon samples, Ookla said. AT&T's figure was 0.2%. T-Mobile was near zero.
RootMetrics' state-area testing, which includes smaller towns and highways rather than only dense city cores, also showed Verizon ahead. Ookla said Verizon mmWave appeared in 33 state-area markets in the second half of 2025, up from 14 in the first half of 2024. AT&T appeared in seven. T-Mobile did not appear in any state-area markets.
Ookla said Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Boston stood out for Verizon. In those cities, about 60% of RootMetrics' outdoor testing samples connected to Verizon mmWave in the second half of 2025.
The testing is not a passive scrape from phones in pockets. Ookla said RootMetrics ran more than 3 million tests in the second half of 2025 using controlled driving and walking routes with flagship Android phones. Its technicians test the 125 largest U.S. metro markets twice each year and use randomized routes rather than repeating the same path every time.
Fast, nearby, and not magic
mmWave's bargain has not changed: plenty of capacity, little reach. The spectrum generally sits between 20 GHz and 40 GHz, far above the low-band spectrum used by older mobile networks and much higher than mid-band C-band. Those high frequencies can carry wide channels, but they fade quickly and do a poor job of getting through buildings.
Ookla said most RootMetrics mmWave samples in the second half of 2025 were collected within 150 meters of a transmission site. In general, the data showed mmWave was not usable beyond 900 meters. By comparison, most C-band samples were collected within 1,000 meters of a site, and some reached more than two miles.
The payoff is speed where the signal exists. Ookla said mmWave download speeds exceeded 1 Gbps in some markets. That is the part carriers liked to show on stage. The less glamorous part is the small-cell density required to make those numbers show up outside a demo zone.
Verizon's position traces back to spectrum. The company bought Straight Path's mmWave holdings in a $3.1 billion deal in 2017, later added XO Communications assets, and spent in FCC mmWave auctions, according to Ookla's account. It then deployed mmWave-capable small cells in stadiums, major venues and busy downtown areas.
AT&T uses 39 GHz for mmWave, while Verizon mostly uses 28 GHz, with just under 6% of its second-half 2025 mmWave samples on 39 GHz, according to Ookla. Ookla said Verizon's signals did not show the same 50-meter drop-off seen in AT&T's data, likely because 28 GHz generally propagates better than 39 GHz.
Mid-band still does most of the 5G heavy lifting. Ookla said Verizon's C-band use in metro samples rose to 81.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025, from 74.4% in the first quarter. mmWave is the sharp tool in the bag, not the whole network.
This story draws on original reporting from Daring Fireball.
