Verizon's network is better than AT&T's for two fundamental reasons:
- It operates mostly on the 850MHz band whereas AT&T operates on both 850Mhz and 1900Mhz band. Lower frequencies penetrate buildings better than higher frequencies. Lower frequencies also have less interference with other electrical devices.
- Verizon uses CDMA technology which intrinsically makes more efficient use of the wireless spectrum than the GSM technology that AT&T uses.
Consequently, AT&T needs to expend more resources on constructing cell towers to achieve the same level of coverage as Verizon.
Wouldn't less towers equate to less potential channels of data? I'm not too familiar with how mobile broadband works but I'm thinking if you have one tower utilizing a X Mhz band covering 50 square miles that would be less bandwidth than 5 towers, overlapping X Mhz bands out of range of each other, each covering only 10 square miles. Could be totally wrong though.
- It operates mostly on the 850MHz band whereas AT&T operates on both 850Mhz and 1900Mhz band. Lower frequencies penetrate buildings better than higher frequencies. Lower frequencies also have less interference with other electrical devices.
- Verizon uses CDMA technology which intrinsically makes more efficient use of the wireless spectrum than the GSM technology that AT&T uses.
Consequently, AT&T needs to expend more resources on constructing cell towers to achieve the same level of coverage as Verizon.