BELLEVUE, Wash. -- RootMetrics®, the standard for independent mobile performance information, today released the results from its 2nd Half 2014 US Mobile Network Performance Review, the industry's most comprehensive study of mobile network performance. This is the third time RootMetrics has offered a report of this magnitude, with insights and comparisons of network performance provided across all the spaces of a consumer's mobile life. The comprehensive report shows important performance changes across three complementary levels: the entire United States, each of the 50 states, and the 125 largest metro areas in the country.

During the 2nd half of 2014, RootMetrics testers drove nearly 293,000 miles, which is further than the distance from the Earth to the moon, visited 6,200 indoor locations, and conducted 5.7 million tests across all 50 states using the same phones consumers can buy from the carriers' stores. The RootMetrics 2nd Half 2014 Mobile Performance Review summarizes results from its comprehensive, scientific testing to provide the most complete and accurate picture of mobile network performance - at the national, state, and metro levels – available anywhere.

Performance at the National RootScore level The latest report found that Verizon is still leading the mobile network race in nearly all aspects of testing. The network again swept in the Overall performance, Reliability and Speed categories. Verizon was also the top-performing network for Data and Call. AT&T was at the top in Text and finished a close second in every other category. Sprint and T-Mobile trailed behind, showing there are still two distinct tiers for the major carriers.

While Sprint and T-Mobile remain in the second tier, both carriers are cutting into the lead of Verizon and AT&T. Thanks to its significant technology upgrades and greatly improved call performance, Sprint showed strong progress, leapfrogging T-Mobile to finish in third place in the Overall National RootScore and surpassing Verizon for second place in the Text category. While T-Mobile finished fourth in the Overall National RootScore, its strong data network and speed performances helped it surpass Sprint to finish third in these categories. It is important to note that while T-Mobile offered strong performance in major urban areas, the National RootScore Award also takes into consideration performance outside of large metros, where T-Mobile still has room for improvement.

"It's no longer a luxury to have fast and reliable mobile service, it's a requirement," said Bill Moore, CEO of RootMetrics. "Whether a person is calling into a work meeting from the road, streaming videos, or simply looking to text a friend to say they'll be late, consumers are no longer satisfied with spotty connections and slow speeds. Our scientifically-rigorous testing and reports give consumers easy-to-understand, fiercely independent information about mobile performance in everyday life conditions, providing a true picture of the mobile consumer experience they can use to make better-informed mobile decisions. And the good news is that our testing shows every network is getting better."

In addition to the Overall performance category, the 2nd Half 2014 US Mobile Performance Review shows which networks provided the most reliable and fastest experience, as well as each network's performance across data, call and text testing.

US National RootScore Overall Performance rankings:

Overall performance scoring is broken down in two ways. First, RootMetrics offers two holistic indices that give consumers a clear view of each network's performance in the key areas of network reliability and network speed. The Reliability Index is based on how reliably calls could be made and texts delivered, as well as how often RootMetrics could make a data network connection and then stay connected throughout testing of all performance categories. The Speed Index includes how quickly a network could download and upload files, send emails, perform typical web and app-related tasks, and send/receive texts.

Overall scoring is additionally broken down into Call, Data, and Text RootScores. Looking at the network Reliability and Speed indices in conjunction with Overall RootScores offers the most comprehensive look at a typical mobile experience.

Verizon ranked highest in both network reliability and network speed.

Verizon Wireless