Internet speeds spotty in Iowa

A new report shows while nearly 94 percent of Iowa households have at least some form of broadband Internet access, a significant gap still exists between availability in rural areas and urban centers.

Connect Iowa, a public-private nonprofit initiative, has been collecting data related to the state of broadband high-speed Internet across Iowa since 2010. The full report released this month includes maps of different broadband providers and speeds across Iowa, usage statistics and customer surveys results.

The report said 93.99 percent of Iowa households had access to an Internet service provider with download speeds of at least 3 megabytes per second (Mbps) as of October 2014. But when tracking speeds of 10 or 25 Mbps, the number of providers dropped off dramatically.

"There's a definite gap as you walk up the speed tiers," said Phillip Brown, of Connect Iowa.

Brown said another stark contrast shown by the study is the lack of availability for high-speed Internet in rural areas. He said 73.43 percent of homes in the state have access to service download speeds of 25 Mbps, but the homes are in less than 9 percent of the state's geographic area.

Brown said having wireless Internet in rural areas would be a benefit for farmers who have sophisticated tractors and other equipment with computers that use Internet or GPS.

Along with assessing the current state of broadband in the state, Connect Iowa also is working with communities to help identify opportunities for growth.

Nic Hockenberry, assistant director of the Jackson County Economic Alliance, has been involved in compiling local statistics with independent and municipal service providers into a survey to submit to Connect Iowa, which then will offer suggested actions to take.

"We will convene our community group and choose from that list of action items three to five that our county wants to focus on," Hockenberry said.

Hockenberry said an added benefit of the group participation is a better working relationship between the economic alliance and the county's Internet service providers.

"We have the contacts now where a company can come into the county with specific broadband needs and we know who to contact and where to site that (company)," he said. (full article…)

BY ALICIA YAGER, Dubuque Telegraph Herald, June 8, 2015. ALICIA.YAGER@THMEDIA.COM