HB 2596 Summary

• Establishes the Broadband Service Infrastructure Grant Program administered by the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to award grants for deploying broadband facilities to unserved and underserved areas of Hawaii.

• Defines broadband service as 25 Mbps downstream/3 Mbps upstream minimum; unserved areas lack this service and underserved areas lack 50 Mbps downstream/5 Mbps upstream service.

• Restricts eligible applicants to non-governmental entities with demonstrated experience providing broadband service in Hawaii; applicants must contribute minimum 20% matching funds from non-government sources and cannot receive other federal or state grants for the same project.

• Requires annual application windows of 60-90 days and allows existing broadband providers 45 days to challenge applications by disputing unserved/underserved status or attesting to existing service using FCC Form 477 or shapefile data.

• Awards grants based on scoring criteria prioritizing project size and scope, applicant experience and financial capacity, necessity of government funding, matching fund contributions, preference for unserved over underserved areas, and speed thresholds; prohibits imposing regulatory obligations beyond baseline speed requirements.