WHEREAS, with respect to cellular and broadband access, many of the State's rural communities are clearly unserved or underserved; and

WHEREAS, providing cellular and broadband communication services will enable residents in rural communities to gain critically needed access to medical care, higher education, public safety and emergency services, as well as benefits resulting from economic opportunity and job growth, among other things; and

WHEREAS, the importance of access to advanced telecommunications services by rural communities is widely and unquestionably recognized; for example, a 2009 Federal Communications Commission report stated that broadband service is "the interstate highway of the 21^st century for small towns and rural communities, the vital connection to the broader nation, and increasingly, the global economy," and congressional support and commitment from the Obama Administration has been noted in this regard; and

WHEREAS, the Public Utilities Commission is clearly charged with the responsibility of ensuring access by rural areas of the State to telecommunications services; for example the Commission is charged with ensuring that:

(1) Consumers in all communities are provided with access, at reasonably comparable rates, to all telecommunications services which are used by a majority of consumers located in metropolitan areas of the State; and

(2) All consumers are provided with nondiscriminatory, reasonable, and equitable access to high quality telecommunications network facilities and capabilities that provide subscribers with sufficient network capacity to access information services that provide a combination of voice, data, image, and video; and

WHEREAS, the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is charged with, among other things, making recommendations to establish affordable, accessible broadband services to unserved and underserved areas of Hawaii and monitor advancements in communications that will facilitate this goal; and

WHEREAS, funding and support through federal agencies may be available to the State to assist the deployment of advanced telecommunication services, including cellular and broadband services, to rural communities; for example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service has made available funding and technical and program experience to expand broadband networks that will close the digital divide between rural and urban communities and deploy the most advanced broadband capability in rural communities; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to report on its progress and deployment plans and in consultation with the Division of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Consumer Advocate's efforts to ensure that:

(1) Consumers in all communities are provided with telecommunications services, including cellular service, that is comparable to the telecommunications services used by a majority of consumers located in metropolitan areas of the State; and

(2) All consumers are provided with nondiscriminatory, reasonable, and equitable access to high quality telecommunications network facilities and capabilities, including cellular service, that provide sufficient network capacity to access information services that provide a combination of voice, data, image, and video; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Public Utilities Commission is also requested to report on its efforts and plans to find and access funding for the foregoing services, including from federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is requested to report on the Director's progress and plans to:

(1) Establish affordable, accessible broadband services to unserved and underserved areas of Hawaii and monitor advancements in communications that will facilitate this goal; and

(2) Find and access funding for such broadband services, including from federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Public Utilities Commission and the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs are requested to work collaboratively, where necessary, to achieve the objectives of this Concurrent Resolution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Public Utilities Commission and the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs are requested, respectively, to submit a report of findings, recommendations, and actions to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the commencement of the Regular Session of 2016; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Public Utilities Commission, Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and the Executive Director of the Division of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Cellular; Broadband; Rural Communities

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	131
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII