The latest statewide survey conducted by the Iowa Utilities Board shows access to high-speed internet service was up to 94% across the state in 2007, an increase of two percent over 2006.
Rob Hillesland is a spokesman for the board. He says the ultimate goal from the beginning was to get to 100% and the state is getting closer and closer all the time. Hillesland says the utilities board began tracking the issue in 2000 at the request of the state legislature. That first survey found just 31% of the state had high-speed access.
Hillesland says they’re seeing the increases continuing to happen and more and more people are finding options to connect to high-speed internet service. One of the results of the increase in high-speed availability is evident in another survey by the board that looked at the types of phone services Iowans use. Hillesland says that survey found more Iowans are cutting the cord.
Hillesland says wire line connections are going down and wireless connections are going up. He says as more and more people get access to wireless internet, it seems they are dropping their wire lines that had been used for dial up internet service.
The utilities board found the total number of wireless connections in the state was just over one-point-nine million, while the number of wired connections was just over one-point-six million. From 2005 to 2007, the number of wireless connections increased 23-percent, while the number of wire connections increased by six percent.