AN ACT IMPROVING BROADBAND ACCESS.

This bill requires the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC), in consultation with the Governor's Broadband Working Group, the Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC), and the Broadband Internet Coordinating Council, to develop a statewide technology program. It requires the program to have infrastructure, education, and support components and to provide grants to private providers and private-public partnerships. The program must be funded with money the state receives under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) for the purpose of expanding broadband service.

The bill also requires DPUC, in consultation with telecommunications and Internet service providers, to contract with a third party to create and regularly update a detailed, geographic information system (GIS) map of the broadband services.

Any broadband provider supplying data to DPUC for developing the program and the GIS map may request, before supplying the data, that DPUC treat it as a trade secret or proprietary commercial or financial information and thus exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. If DPUC determines that the data does not constitute a trade secret or proprietary commercial or financial information, the provider need not supply it to DPUC.

The bill requires DPUC to report to the Energy and Technology Committee by January 1 each year, from 2010 to 2015, on the development of the initiative and the map.

The bill specifies that it does not give DPUC or any other entity any additional regulatory or other authority over telecommunications and information technology providers.

*House Amendment “A” (1) requires that the program be funded with money the state receives under the ARRA; (2) modifies the data providers must supply for the GIS map and types of information the map must convey; (3) exempts providers from having to supply data they believe to be proprietary if DPUC determines that it is subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, rather than exempting the data they provide from the act; and (4) makes minor changes.

The bill requires that the initiative include provisions for (1) expanding and deploying broadband infrastructure in the parts of the state DPUC determines to be unserved in terms of access to broadband (priority areas) and (2) increasing broadband adoptions. Under the bill, “broadband” means high-speed Internet service whose minimum speed is the speed set by the Federal Communications Commission.

The initiative program must include a detailed financial incentive component to award incentives first to private providers and then to public-private partnerships that deploy additional broadband infrastructure to these areas. Incentives cannot be provided to support any deployment where wireline or wireless broadband is already available, but may be provided where broadband access by satellite technology is already available.

The bill requires that DPUC, in partnership with the private sector the governor's working group, and in consultation with OCC and the council, establish a digital technology access and education program to provide information, computers, and other technology to access broadband and communications technologies in local communities in priority areas. The program may include, among other things, education and skill-building opportunities, hardware and software, Internet connectivity, and development of locally relevant content and delivery of vital services through technology.

The bill requires that the initiative provide organizational and capacity building support to groups throughout the state. These include, among others, municipalities, community colleges, school districts, libraries, and senior centers. The program must identify and facilitate the availability of other public and private funding sources to enhance the purposes of the initiative.

The bill requires that DPUC, in consultation with OCC and the council, establish a program to provide competitive grants to groups throughout the state, including municipalities, community colleges, school districts, libraries, and senior centers. The grantees must use the money to (1) provide training and skill-building opportunities, (2) provide access to hardware and software, (3) provide Internet connectivity, (4) adopt information and communication technologies in priority areas, and (5) develop locally relevant content and delivery of vital services through technology.

DPUC must develop criteria for awarding the grants, which may include, among other things, eligibility requirements and funding sources.

Under the bill, the GIS map must be at the census block level and display levels of broadband service by connection speed and type of technology used. The maps must be integrated with demographic information to produce a comprehensive statewide inventory and mapping of existing broadband service and capability.

1. areas that are unserved by any broadband provider,

2. areas served by a single broadband provider,

3. areas served by multiple providers,

4. the location of towers used to transmit and receive broadband signals,

5. average upstream and downstream transmission speeds at the census block group (i. e. , neighborhood) level of detail, and

6. types of technology used to provide broadband service.

The data used to produce the maps must be capable of being integrated with demographic data from other sources, such as population density and household income, to allow for the production of maps that measure, down to the census block level of detail, various characteristics of residents in areas receiving different levels of broadband services and using different technologies.

Yea

Nay

(03/19/2009)

Yea

Nay

(04/23/2009)