HI HB1062

Establishes a broadband infrastructure grant program administered by the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to award grants for deploying broadband infrastructure to unserved and underserved areas of Hawaii.

Requires grant applicants to be non-governmental entities with demonstrated broadband experience, commit to funding at least 50 percent of project costs, and comply with net neutrality principles as defined by Executive Order No. 18-02.

Defines eligible project areas as census blocks or aggregations of adjacent census blocks that are either unserved (no broadband access) or underserved (speeds less than double the minimum broadband speeds).

Establishes a scoring system prioritizing projects serving larger unserved areas, those without duplicate infrastructure, applicants with strong technical ability, and projects requiring less government funding relative to matching contributions.

Requires the Department to adopt administrative rules within 180 days and appropriates general revenue funds for fiscal year 2019-2020, with an effective date of July 1, 3000.