Among the four major cellphone carriers, Verizon Wireless provides the best coverage in metro Denver, according to a new report.

RootMetrics, an independent network evaluator, will release today a study ranking the carriers based on call quality, Internet connections and text-message delivery.

The company said it performed more than 40,000 call, data and text tests from July 16 to July 22 in the Denver area using Android-based smartphones purchased at the carriers’ respective stores.

RootMetrics found that Verizon and Sprint tied for best call quality, with AT&T recording the highest dropped-call rate of 2.6 percent.

Verizon also tops the chart in terms of network speed, surpassing 10 megabits per second in two-thirds of the tests.

T-Mobile ranked second, delivering speeds faster than 10 Mbps more often in Denver than in any of the dozen other markets tested to date, RootMetrics said.

T-Mobile performed the best with text messages, offering the fastest delivery speeds.

Verizon received the overall “RootScore Award” based on the three categories.

RootMetrics chief executive Bill Moore said network performance is just one consideration for consumers when deciding on a carrier.

“This gives everybody a good overview,” Moore said. “The second part of that decision is what device you want or need. . . . Then you have to look at billing and price because these networks are not all charging the same price.”

AT&T notes that its subscribers have “the ability to talk and surf the Web at the same time and access to the broadest international coverage of any U.S. provider.”

In terms of call quality, AT&T said other tests have shown “consistently strong call retainability” on its network.

“We are focused on continued improvement to deliver the industry’s best call retainability for our customers,” AT&T said in a statement.

The carrier plans to launch its high-speed Long Term Evolution network in 15 cities by year-end.

T-Mobile and Sprint declined to comment.

“We are pleased but not surprised by the results,” said Verizon spokesman Bob Kelley.

RootMetrics said it sells its data to three of the four carriers but wouldn’t identify them.

Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209, avuong@denverpost.com or twitter.com/andyvuong