I have to say, I can’t tell you how stoked I am to hear that Gov. Abercrombie is calling for faster internet speeds in Hawaii from our internet service providers. Hawaii currently ranks 31 in internet speed in the nation but the goal of 1 gigabit might not be here until 2018. 
“We want to take it into every household,” Abercrombie said at an event announcing the plan. “And we want to take it at a level that assures ubiquitous access.” But as usual, there are speed bumps in the request for the internet speed pump.
The current situation is that service providers don’t see the need for faster speeds because the public and businesses in Hawaii are not calling out for the services. For the service providers, it’s not about just turning the juice up, it’s building a whole new infrastructure. Don’t know about Hawaiian Tel but for Oceanic Time Warner, it’s a big order.
Hawaii Broadband Task Force chairman David Lassner has his work cut out for him. His mission to get to the next level of a major internet speed-boost is trying to convince Hawaii businesses of the benefits. Richard Lim, the director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism is in total agreement with Abercrombie and Lassner. He stand on the position that an increase of internet speeds would increase the productivity of the state.
For me, another approach might be to just double current speeds and look at the long-tail of Hawaii’s overall media production sector. With Hawaii becoming the tropical center for Hollywood production, having faster internet speeds mean faster transfers. As well, local production companies can invest in more online production targeting Asian audiences.
