South Slope rolls out gigabit internet

An Eastern Iowa internet service provider now sells gigabit speeds as it joins a slate of Iowa companies that offer some of the fastest speeds around.

North Liberty-based South Slope Cooperative Communications announced Wednesday that it now sells 1 gigabit-per-second download speeds to residential and business customers. Gigabit service is equal to 1,000 megabits per second, or about 40 times what the Federal Communications Commission considers 'high-speed” broadband.

The service is often viewed as the gold standard, but ISPs have debated in the past whether it was worth offering as few residential customers may actually take advantage of or need the speed.

As customers connect more devices to the internet - from their phones to thermostats - and stream more video, the need for higher speeds has grown.

'The need for greater bandwidth, whether it's at the home or the business, is just growing leaps and bounds,” South Slope CEO Chuck Diesbeck said.

The plans also can be high in cost. South Slope's gigabit residential plan is priced at $199.95 a month.

Diesbeck said upping the download speed also comes with higher upload speeds, which is important for those who work from home. South Slope's 1 gigabit download service comes with a 100 megabit-per-second upload speed.

'When you're uploading files and sending pictures, from a business standpoint when trying to do business communication over an internet connection, that is important,” he said.

New York-based Mediacom, which serves more than 300 Iowa communities, rolled out its residential Gigabit service in January. Cedar Rapids-based ImOn Communications also offers that speed.

The Gazette's parent company, Foliance, is an investor in ImOn.

South Slope service area includes North Liberty, west and south Cedar Rapids, parts of Coralville, Swisher, Solon, Ely and other rural areas in Eastern Iowa.

l Comments: (319) 398-8366; matthew.patane@thegazette.com