Hawaii-2010-SCR202-Introduced

WHEREAS, the United States ranks thirty-eighth in the world in broadband speed; and

WHEREAS, a one gigabit, Fiber-to-the-Home broadband technology was introduced in the town of Nuenen, Holland, in 2005, where it was enthusiastically received, with ninety per cent of the town receiving installation within the first year and eventually ninety-seven per cent; and

WHEREAS, one gigabit broadband at affordable prices has subsequently been introduced in Europe, Japan, and Canada as part of their internet access initiatives; and

WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu's interest in broadband was evidenced several years ago in its Chinatown broadband internet demonstration to improve broadband access for the residents of Chinatown; and

WHEREAS, Google is seeking to demonstrate to current broadband providers in the United States the revolutionary benefits of high speed broadband to encourage the provision of high speed broadband and to literally bring the country "up to speed" with the rest of the modern world; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii would be the optimal test site for Google to demonstrate the revolutionary ability of high speed internet in addressing society's most pressing problems, if Google would select Hawaii for conducting its Gigabit Broadband Initiative, especially in view of Hawaii's compactness and the presence of a broad spectrum of sectors that can utilize high speed internet; and

WHEREAS, Google can demonstrate with real-world results the changes that high speed internet can make in problems that are common to areas all across the country; and

WHEREAS, because Hawaii's vehicular traffic has long earned its recognition as the most congested city in the United States according to the INRIX National Traffic Scorecard Annual Report (2007, 2008, second in 2009), Google can demonstrate how effectively telecommuting can alleviate traffic congestion in major cities; and

WHEREAS, Google can reduce the State's public safety budgetary appropriation with the availability of enhanced electronic monitoring via high speed internet as a low-cost alternative to incarceration for low-risk offenders, with the result of freeing up prison beds for high-risk offenders thereby alleviating the need for building more prisons; and

WHEREAS, having medically underserved areas on the neighbor islands and urban medical centers on Oahu, Google can address the important nationwide issue of how high speed broadband can be used to teach rural doctors how to perform procedures for which it may not be otherwise feasible to attend training for, and to give rural doctors and patients real-time access to specialists, resulting in giving more physicians the incentive to serve these areas, and improving access to and quality of care; and

WHEREAS, video streaming on high speed internet can make available distance learning for children in rural schools as well as increasing the opportunity for adults in rural areas to obtain higher education; and

WHEREAS, high speed video-streaming enables continuing education to be more available, which reduces the cost and time for professionals who wish to keep updated on developments in their field, an issue with Hawaii professionals who have no choice but to fly to other states for this and incur travel costs; and

WHEREAS, a proposed new film studio in Kapolei and the currently thriving film and television industry in Hawaii would benefit from high speed download that can increase their audience; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii's geography and topography mimics many physical conditions found across the country, including snow-topped mountains; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, the House of Representatives concurring, that Google is urged to select Hawaii as a test site to conduct the Google Gigabit Broadband Initiative; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Governor and the mayor of each county are urged to contact Google about the prospect of Hawaii being selected as a test site for the Google Gigabit Broadband Initiative; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature supports all state, county, and community efforts to prevail upon Google to select Hawaii as a test site for the Google Gigabit Broadband Initiative; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Google Inc., the Governor, and the Mayor of each county.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Broadband; Google

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	202
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010
STATE OF HAWAII