The LTE coverage in so cal is definitely much better on VZW compared to AT&T especially in Los Angeles. Speeds are indeed much better on VZW too. Signal strength of LTE is also stronger in VZW. I have both AT&T and VZW iPhone 5 due to coverage issues in my general area.
The fastest I ever gotten on VZW was in Alhambra, CA at the In-N-Out Burger and I got 65.00 Mbps down and 20.41 Mbps up with a 48 ms ping.
The fastest I ever gotten on AT&T in Pasadena, CA was 24.93 Mbps down and 8.84 Mbps up with 84 ms ping
Posted this in the other LTE thread, this seems more active, so I will post here as well.
Whereabouts are you in Australia?
Perth.
No wonder why you got those amazing speeds. I'm in Sydney and the highest speed I've gotten is around the 62Mbps mark. I wish I could get your speeds.
Speedd Test
This is my at&t lte speed from Riverside, CA. This sucks!