Friday, January 04, 2008

Hawaii Broadband Task Force issues preliminary report

Following the lead of state-level broadband task forces in California, Kentucky, North Carolina and Ohio, the Hawaii Broadband Task Force has issued its intial report to the governor and legislature.

During 2008, the task force plans to work with the federal government and other states to determine how many states have initiated broadband data collection projects, created unified authorities to drive broadband deployment, and instituted regulatory reforms.

The Hawaii panel will also determine whether other states have considered policies to increase the deployment of Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) or are relying exclusively on telcos and cable companies to make their own business cases for these investments based on expected return to investors/owners.

The task force will wrap up its work with recommended policy, regulatory, informational, developmental, and leadership initiatives "that would stimulate both the demand for and competitive supply of advanced broadband capability and services throughout the state."

California's Broadband Task Force, which has a similar charter to Hawaii's, issued an interim report several months ago. It was set to issue a full report in December that is now expected to be completed sometime this month.

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