A year after it began connecting homes in West Ashley and Mount Pleasant, IQ Fiber says it has earned the best customer ratings of any internet provider in a national Consumer Reports survey.
On Oct. 7, the Jacksonville, Florida, company said it earned the highest overall score, 96, among 68 internet providers rated in Consumer Reports’ 2026 survey of more than 105,000 members. It said it also received top marks for value, speed, reliability, customer service and technical support. Consumer Reports’ free summary of the survey does not name its top-rated providers; the full ratings are available to members.
“Our customers want fast, reliable internet, straightforward pricing, and real people to provide help when they need it,” CEO Ted Schremp said in the announcement.
The survey was harder on the industry’s giants. Low scorers included Cox, Optimum, Spectrum and Xfinity, according to Consumer Reports’ summary of the results, last updated Sept. 30. Only 16% of members gave their provider top grades, and nearly all of those providers were small regional companies, the publication said. Nearly 70% of respondents with fiber service said they were very or completely satisfied. Nearly a third of members now have a fiber connection, up slightly from 28% a year earlier, Consumer Reports said.
A year in the Lowcountry
IQ Fiber announced its Charleston-area build in February 2025. It estimated its initial investment at more than $40 million and said it expected to hire 20 to 25 local employees.
“We are thrilled to see IQ Fiber’s expansion into Charleston, as it brings much-needed competition to our broadband landscape,” Charleston Mayor William Cogswell said in that announcement.
The company had said customers would start coming online in late 2025. It launched service on Oct. 27, 2025, starting with West Ashley and Mount Pleasant, and celebrated with a party for residents and civic leaders at Shadowmoss Country Club, according to its launch announcement.
Its network uses a technology called XGS-PON that can deliver matching upload and download speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second, the company says, and it owns the fiber that runs from its backbone into homes and businesses. For Charleston addresses, its website lists plans from $65 a month for 250 megabits per second to $125 a month for 5 gigabits, with no contracts.
In May, IQ Fiber opened a Charleston operations center at 2030 Herbert St., a former warehouse it renovated over six months with the building’s Charleston-based owner. The company said the center is its regional base for network deployment, field operations, engineering, sales and customer support.
“When companies choose to invest in our region, create jobs and revitalize spaces, it strengthens our local economy and supports long-term opportunity,” Kevin Sheilley, president and CEO of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, said in the company’s announcement.
Moving inland
In September, SCBiz reported that IQ Fiber had acquired the network assets of Orangeburg Fiber as part of what the company called a $35 million investment in Orangeburg. The company plans to upgrade the existing network and bring more addresses online, and it said the deal ties Orangeburg to its operations in the Lowcountry, according to SCBiz.
“We’re investing in Orangeburg for the long term, through continued network deployment, technology upgrades, local hiring, and a commitment to being an active member of the Orangeburg community,” Schremp said in the release, according to SCBiz.
What the company hasn’t said
IQ Fiber is privately funded and launched in August 2021, according to its announcements. Besides Charleston, it serves Jacksonville, Gainesville and Pinellas County in Florida; Savannah, Georgia; Delaware; and the Chesapeake Bay region of Maryland. When it launched in Charleston, it said its network spanned more than 2,700 route miles.
Its announcements have not said how many Charleston-area homes and businesses can get its service, how many have signed up or how much of the planned $40 million it has spent so far.
