New research shows access to higher Internet service in Iowa is on the rise

An increasing number of Iowans in urban and rural areas now have access to broadband Internet service.

Almost 94 percent of Iowa's 1.2 million households have access to broadband service of at least 6 MBps download and 1.5 MBps upload, including mobile wireless, according to Connect Iowa, a not-for-profit subsidiary of Connected Nation, a telephone- and cable-sponsored organization.

That figure is a six-percent increase from Oct. 2012.

In addition, 6.37 percent more households have access to broadband service of at least 10 MBps download/ 1.5 MBps upload now compared to six months ago.

Connect Iowa releases updated data twice a year.

One hundred percent of Johnson and Linn counties households have access to 6 MBps speed, said Amy Kuhlers, state program manager for Connect Iowa, based in Des Moines.

"There's a very small percentage of households that do not tap into that, so that means they're not opting to purchase that or they're using another mechanism, but that's only 2 percent," Kuhlers said. "One hundred percent of households in Linn County have the capability to have at least six megabytes down."

In addition, almost 98 percent of Iowa's nearly 671,000 rural households now have access to broadband speeds of at least 3 MBps download/ 768 KBps upload, an increase of 3 percent since Oct. 2012.

"It evens the playing field a little bit," Kuhler said. "Certainly job searches anymore, so many jobs that are available are only available to apply online. Our students, education, we're making strides forward in our schools to get some very good connectivity."

Among the other findings: 88.27 percent of Iowa households are now able to choose from more than one provider for broadband service, and 29.72 percent of Iowa households have access to broadband of at least 25 MBps download/1.5 MBps upload.

Connect Iowa's research was conducted as part of the State Broadband Initiative grant program for Iowa, funded by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.