Internet in Des Moines, Iowa

Mediacom, three fiber networks and the wireless carriers

Four wired networks cover most of Des Moines. Mediacom's cable network is the one found almost everywhere, at 99.1% of the city's 69,890 homes and businesses, with advertised downloads up to 5 Gbps. Metronet reports fiber at 84.7% of locations, Google Fiber at 61.7% and AT&T at 51.5%¹.

The table comes from the providers' own filings with the FCC as of June 30, 2026 (file revision of November 10, 2026), for locations inside the city limits as drawn for the 2020 Census. A provider counts as available where it says it could install service within ten business days. The filings can be challenged, and the FCC map is where one address can be checked.

T-Mobile (84.5% of locations) and Verizon (80.9%) report fixed wireless home internet over their mobile networks, but each offers 100/20 Mbps at under a third of locations: 30.3% for T-Mobile and 27.0% for Verizon. CenturyLink's remaining service in the city is DSL over telephone lines, with 100/20 Mbps at 3.0%¹ of locations.

Fiber at nearly every address since 2022

In the first National Broadband Map, as of June 30, 2022, fiber was reported at 27.4%² of Des Moines locations, most of it filed by CenturyLink. Metronet reported fiber in a small part of the city, and Google Fiber reported none. By June 30, 2026 the fiber share had risen 66.2 percentage points, the 19th highest¹ increase among the 343 cities of 100,000 or more.

June 30, 2022December 31, 2025June 30, 2026

Fiber available93.6% +66.2 pts

Two or more fiber networks74.0% +73.2 pts

Gigabit (1,000/100)99.4% +97.0 pts

Three or more wired choices74.2% +73.3 pts

Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2022; FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of December 31, 2025; FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Shares of broadband serviceable locations in each FCC release (latest revision of each); the small number is the change in percentage points since June 30, 2022. The FCC's count of locations is updated with each release, so shares are compared rather than counts.

Show the numbers

Measure	June 30, 2022	December 31, 2025	June 30, 2026	Change (points)
Fiber available	27.4%	93.3%	93.6%	66.2 pts
Two or more fiber networks	0.9%	65.8%	74.0%	73.2 pts
Gigabit (1,000/100)	2.4%	99.5%	99.4%	97.0 pts
Three or more wired choices	0.9%	65.1%	74.2%	73.3 pts

The fiber share itself has nearly stopped rising: it was 93.3% in December 2025 and 93.6% in June 2026. The overlap between networks is still growing. Locations with two or more fiber providers went from 0.9%² in 2022 to 65.8%³ in December 2025 and 74.0% in June 2026, a share that ranks 10th highest¹ among large cities.

The speed figures moved with the fiber. In 2022 the fastest advertised download at 96.6% of locations was about 1 Gbps, over Mediacom's cable network, and gigabit service with uploads of 100 Mbps or more, the FCC's 1,000/100 tier, was advertised at 2.4%² of locations. It is now advertised at 99.4%, and the fastest advertised download is 2 Gbps or more at 99.4%¹. These are maximum advertised speeds filed by providers, not measurements.

CenturyLink's fiber, now filed by AT&T

AT&T's fiber in Des Moines is a change of filer, not new construction. In the FCC's Iowa files for December 31, 2025, AT&T reported only fixed wireless in Des Moines, and the city's telephone-company fiber was filed by CenturyLink. In the files for June 30, 2026, AT&T reports fiber at 51.5% of locations, with advertised downloads up to 8 Gbps¹, and CenturyLink reports DSL only. The switch follows a transaction between the two companies: in a February 2, 2026 release filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, CenturyLink's parent Lumen said it had sold its Mass Markets fiber-to-the-home business in eleven states, Quantum Fiber included, to AT&T, while retaining its copper-based consumer services.

The change explains why DSL is still reported at 52.8% of locations while fiber reaches nearly all of them: the copper lines stayed with CenturyLink. DSL has fallen 12.2 percentage points since 2022. AT&T's total footprint, 78.1%¹ of locations, is larger than its fiber footprint because it also files fixed wireless across part of the city.

Choice at a single address

In 2022 most of Des Moines had one wired provider at 100/20 Mbps: 68.4%² of locations, almost always Mediacom. That share is now 6.4%, and 74.2% of locations have three or more wired providers at that speed. On average a location has 3.00¹ wired providers offering 100/20 Mbps.

NoneOneTwoThree or more

Des Moines

Cedar Rapids

Davenport

Iowa

Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Different wired providers (fiber, cable or DSL; FCC provider IDs) reporting 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up or more at the same location. Fixed wireless and satellite are not counted.

Show the numbers

Area	None	One	Two	Three or more
Des Moines	0.5%	6.4%	18.9%	74.2%
Cedar Rapids	1.4%	21.0%	70.3%	7.2%
Davenport	0.6%	5.8%	69.3%	24.3%
Iowa	9.6%	34.6%	41.3%	14.6%

Mediacom is the only wired provider at 100/20 Mbps at 5.9% of locations, 4,440 homes and businesses in all, and 348 locations have no wired provider at that speed. Only 1¹ location in the city is left with satellite alone; satellite providers report service everywhere and are not counted in the coverage figures on this page.

Des Moines beside Iowa's other large cities

Fiber reach alone does not separate Des Moines from Davenport, where the share is about the same. Overlap does: in Davenport, two or more fiber networks reach 19.9% of locations; in Des Moines, 74.0%. In Cedar Rapids, fiber reaches 35.2%. Across Iowa, 55.8% of locations have two or more wired providers at 100/20 Mbps, against 93.2%¹ in the capital.

Omaha has more fiber companies than Des Moines, 9 against 7, but two or more of them overlap at only 36.4%¹ of its locations.

Fiber at the door, fewer subscribers inside

The Census Bureau's survey measures a different thing: what households pay for, not what is reported available. In the 2025 American Community Survey, 89.9% of Des Moines households had a broadband subscription of any type (margin of error ±2.3 percentage points), the 9th lowest share among the large cities the survey covers. 70.4% subscribed to cable, fiber or DSL, 16.4% relied only on a cellular data plan and 10.1% had no internet subscription (±2.3 percentage points⁴).

Wired 100/20 Mbps available (FCC, share of locations)99.5%

Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census)70.4% ±2.8

Households relying only on a cellular data plan16.4% ±2.5

Households with no internet subscription10.1% ±2.3

Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026; Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year detailed tables. Availability is a share of locations as of June 30, 2026 (FCC); subscriptions are a share of households from the American Community Survey, 2025 (whiskers: 90% margin of error). Different units and dates: read the gap as a sign, not an exact number.

Show the numbers

Measure	Share	MOE
Wired 100/20 Mbps available (FCC, share of locations)	99.5%
Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census)	70.4%	±2.8
Households relying only on a cellular data plan	16.4%	±2.5
Households with no internet subscription	10.1%	±2.3

Subscriptions have risen since 2019. In that year's survey, 18.3% of households had no subscription (margin of error ±2.3 percentage points⁵), a gap well outside the margins of the two estimates. Across Iowa, 91.1% of households subscribed to broadband in 2025 (±0.5 percentage points⁴); with the city's wider margin, the two figures are not clearly different. Survey estimates count households over a year and the FCC counts locations on one date, so the comparison is a signal, not a count of homes without service.

Polk County and every other Iowa county are mapped on the Iowa page.