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Satellite Internet in Iowa

Iowa derives its name from the Ioway people, an American Indian Sioux tribe that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. The Ioway tribe were a semi-nomadic people who used horses for hunting, but supplemented their lifestyle by planting maize and manufacturing alum pipes, which they traded, along with furs, with the French colonizers.

Iowa’s half bordered by rivers – Mississippi on the east, Missouri and Big Sioux on the west, and Des Moines River on the south. The terrain of Iowa is almost entirely hilly. There are several natural lakes in the state, most notably Spirit Lake, West Okoboji Lake, and East Okoboji Lake. Natural vegetation in the state is tallgrass prairie and savanna in the upland areas, and dense forest and wetlands in the floodplains and river valleys. Despite popular belief, Iowa’s vegetation and terrain is highly varied.

Like most of the Midwest, Iowa has a humid continental climate, reaching extremes of both hot and cold. Iowa averages approximately fifty days of thunderstorm activity per year. On the northern portion of Tornado Alley, tornadoes are common during the spring and summer months, with an average of thirty-seven tornadoes each year. Precipitation ranges from 25 inches each year in northwest Iowa, to 39 inches in the southeastern corner of the state. Most of Iowa’s land is used for agriculture; crops cover 60% of the state, grasslands (mostly pasture and hay) cover 30% of the state, and forests, 7%.

The introduction of railroads in the 1850s and 1860s transformed Iowa into a major agricultural producer. Starting in 1917, World War I introduced a wartime economy. For farmers, the change was significant. Since WWI, the farming economy in Iowa has evolved slowly. The Great Depression and World War II shifted smallholder farming towards larger farms, and began a trend of urbanization.

Post-war, agriculture continued to be the state’s dominant industry, but Iowa also added manufacturing, including refrigerators, washing machines, fountain pens, farm implements, and food products. Although the economy bottomed out in the 1980s, Iowa’s economy increasingly relied on agriculture, and today the state has a mix of manufacturing, biotechnology, finance and insurance services, and government services.

This diversification of economy has helped Iowa weather the Great Recession (the late-2000s recession). Iowa’s unemployment rate ranked 8th lowest among states in June 2010. Iowa’s 2005 GDP was $124 billion. Its per capita income for 2006 was $23,340. Additionally, Iowa’s credit was rated AAA, the highest of Standard and Poor’s credit ratings, held by only ten other U.S. state governments.

Despite its diversification, agriculture has always been a major part of Iowa’s economy. Although direct production and sale of raw agricultural products contributes to only 3.5% of Iowa’s gross state product, The indirect role of agriculture in Iowa, however, can be measured in multiple ways. Iowa’s main agricultural outputs are hogs, corn, soybeans, oats, cattle, eggs, and dairy products. Iowa is the nation’s largest producer of ethanol and corn.

Ethanol production consumes approximately 30% of Iowa’s corn production, and renewable fuels account for 8% of the state’s gross domestic product. A total of thirty-nine ethanol plants in the state of Iowa produced 3.1 billion gallons of fuel in 2009. In addition to ethanol, renewable energy has become a major economic force in western Iowa, with wind turbine electrical generation increasing rapidly since 1990. According to 2008 statistics, wind accounted for 15% of energy produced in Iowa and 7.1% of the state’s power needs. Iowa ranked second in wind generating capacity of U.S. states.

Do you run a small business or work by telecommuting in Iowa? Do you oversee a dairy farm, or a wind farm in western Iowa? If you’re looking for a fast, reliable Internet connection, why not use the benefits of satellite Internet? It is just as good as broadband, and can be reached in those areas where cable and DSL can’t. And, it works faster than just a dial-up modem.

Satellite Internet means you won’t need a second phone line; and it is over a hundred times faster than a dial up connection. It is available for use at work, or in your home office. It is always on and works for all of your business needs. Whether you stay put or are constantly on the go, satellite Internet is always working for you.

At Skycasters, we take great pride in serving our business customers. That’s the same pride Iowans have in serving their customers, families, and countrymen. We don’t offer anything but the best. That’s why we’ve invested millions in our own commercial-grade satellite equipment to deliver unsurpassed power, speed, and reliability. The Skycasters system is designed specifically to meet the challenges you face.

Skycasters has a satellite solution for you. We offer remote business plans for VSAT, as well as point-to-multipoint (PTMP), which is ideal for providing Internet service to communities and travel destinations. PTMP allows multiple users to share a single Skycasters satellite dish and Internet connection. Every PTMP solution requires a network for the end users; this may be a wired network of a handful of computers in a café, a wireless network covering a few acres of a farm, or a WiMax network that covers every home and business within a 10 to 20 to square mile area around each tower.

Visit Skycasters' PTMP page to learn how we can outfit your remote business, resort, or community with exceptional satellite Internet service.

With the option of using a satellite Internet provider, you can gain instant access without having to wait for your web pages to load. So you can check your email, browse the web, and download work programs, even in the most remote places.

With this faster and quicker service, downloading business data, pictures, programs or email attachments has never been quicker. So don’t let slow dial up service bog you down. And forget about waiting for the cable companies. Satellite Internet is simple to install, so don’t waste another minute. Get it today and enjoy the convenience. No more waiting -- just fast and easy service. That’s the Skycasters promise.

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