STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2668

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1000

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Economic Development, Environment, and Technology and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 1000 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TECHNOLOGY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish within the Department of Accounting and General Services an Office of Information Technology, which consolidates the functions of the Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Management and Technology, and Department of Accounting and General Services' Information and Communication Services Division.

     Prior to the hearing on this measure, your Committees posted and made available for public review a proposed S.D. 1, which deletes the contents of this measure and inserts language to require cable operators to disclose to customers and prospective customers the minimum bandwidth that shall be provided and maximum bandwidth available, for cable communication services.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of the proposed S.D. 1 from two individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to the proposed S.D. 1 from Oceanic Time Warner Cable and Hawaiian Telcom.  Your Committees received comments on the proposed S.D. 1 from the Cable Television Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

     Your Committees find that cable communication services are often offered at varying bandwidth capacities, or internet speeds, with higher maximum speeds resulting in higher costs of the service.  However, a customer paying for such services will not always experience the highest internet speed due to a variety of conditions, which include the performance of a customer's computer, the type of connection between a customer's computer and modem, the distance packets travel between a customer's computer and its final destination, the congestion or high-usage levels at the website or destination, and the capacity, speeds, or access limited by the website or destination.  Your Committees find that a cable communication services provider should disclose bandwidth information so that customers are fully aware of the range of internet speeds the customer is likely to experience and to allow for better informed consumer decisions when choosing cable communication services.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by adopting the proposed S.D. 1 and further amending the measure by requiring cable operators to disclose to customers and prospective customers a statement that outside factors may affect the actual bandwidth received, rather than the minimum bandwidth that shall be provided.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Economic Development, Environment, and Technology and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1000, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1000, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Economic Development, Environment, and Technology and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

________________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair