T-Mobile Defies Regulators, Claims Its Network Is Faster Than Verizon’s

Even though it was recently told to stop claiming that its internet service was faster than that of Verizon, on top of other unflattering descriptions, T-Mobile has decided to defy the ruling of the National Advertising Division (NAD). The Uncarrier will continue to tell users that its services are better than what is being offered by its bigger rival.

The whole matter centered on NAD’s refusal to consider crowd-sourced data proving that T-Mobile’s internet service was faster than Verizon’s. The regulators also asked the Uncarrier to stop claiming that it covers over 90 percent of Verizon’s customers.

“Following its review, NAD concluded that the Ookla and Open Signal Speed test results in the month after Verizon introduced unlimited data plans might have had a bias in favor of T-Mobile and as a result did not support a comparative claim that T-Mobile has the fastest 4G LTE network. NAD recommended T-Mobile discontinue claims that it has the fastest 4G LTE network. NAD also recommended that T-Mobile discontinue claims that its LTE network is “newer” than Verizon’s and that Verizon’s LTE network is “older,” the regulatory body’s report reads.

In a statement to The Verge, T-Mobile’s senior vice president of corporate communications, Janice V. Kapner said that this was not the case in previous cases. Apparently, NAD had no problem recognizing third-party sources of data to judge network performance.

“NAD previously recognized third-party crowd-sourced data as a way to look at network performance, so we looked at the latest results, and verified what we already knew,” Kapner said. “T-Mobile is still the fastest LTE network and we'll continue to let consumers know that.”

This is in direct contrast to NAD’s report, which indicated that T-Mobile would quit making these kinds of claims. The Uncarrier is even saying that it has new data supporting its statements.