Florida Senate - 2020                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1166
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì573474<Î573474                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  01/28/2020           .                                
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       The Committee on Commerce and Tourism (Albritton) recommended
       the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment 
    2  
    3         Delete lines 64 - 123
    4  and insert:
    5         (d) “Underserved” means a geographic area of this state in
    6  which there is no provider of broadband Internet service that
    7  offers a connection to the Internet with a capacity for
    8  transmission at a consistent speed of at least 10 megabits per
    9  second downstream and at least 1 megabit per second upstream.
   10         (3)(2) STATE ENTITY.—The department is designated as the
   11  lead state entity to facilitate the expansion of broadband
   12  Internet service in this state. The department shall of
   13  Management Services is authorized to work collaboratively with
   14  private businesses, and to receive staffing support and other
   15  resources from, Enterprise Florida, Inc., state agencies, local
   16  governments, private businesses, and community organizations.
   17         (4) FLORIDA OFFICE OF BROADBAND.—The Florida Office of
   18  Broadband is created within the Division of Community
   19  Development within the department for the purpose of developing,
   20  marketing, and promoting broadband Internet services to this
   21  state. The office, in the performance of its duties, shall do
   22  all of the following to:
   23         (a) Monitor the adoption of broadband Internet service in
   24  collaboration with communications service providers, including,
   25  but not limited to, wireless and wireline Internet service
   26  providers, to develop geographical information system maps at
   27  the census tract level that will:
   28         1. Identify geographic gaps in broadband services,
   29  including areas unserved by any broadband provider and areas
   30  served by a single broadband provider;
   31         2. Identify the download and upload transmission speeds
   32  made available to businesses and individuals in the state, at
   33  the census tract level of detail, using data rate benchmarks for
   34  broadband service used by the Federal Communications Commission
   35  to reflect different speed tiers; and
   36         3. Provide a baseline assessment of statewide broadband
   37  deployment in terms of percentage of households with broadband
   38  availability.
   39         (b) Create a strategic plan that has goals and strategies
   40  for increasing the use of broadband Internet service in this the
   41  state.
   42         (b)(c) Build and facilitate local technology planning teams
   43  or partnerships with members representing cross-sections of the
   44  community, which may include, but are not limited to,
   45  representatives from the following organizations and industries:
   46  libraries, K-12 education, colleges and universities, local
   47  health care providers, private businesses, community
   48  organizations, economic development organizations, local
   49  governments, tourism, parks and recreation, and agriculture.
   50         (c)(d) Encourage the use of broadband Internet service,
   51  especially in the rural, unserved, or and underserved
   52  communities of this the state through grant programs having
   53  effective strategies to facilitate the statewide deployment of
   54  broadband Internet service. For any grants to be awarded,
   55  priority must be given to projects that:
   56         1. Provide access to broadband education, awareness,
   57  training, access, equipment, and support to libraries, schools,
   58  colleges and universities, health care providers, and community
   59  support organizations.
   60         2. Encourage the sustainable adoption of broadband in
   61  primarily unserved and underserved areas by removing barriers to
   62  entry.
   63         3. Work toward encouraging investments in establishing
   64  affordable and sustainable broadband Internet service in
   65  unserved and underserved areas of this the state.
   66         4. Facilitate the development of applications, programs,
   67  and services, including, but not limited to, telework,
   68  telemedicine, and e-learning to increase the usage of, and
   69  demand for, broadband Internet service in this the state.
   70         (d) Monitor, participate in, and provide input on
   71  proceedings of the Federal Communications Commission and other
   72  federal agencies which are related to the geographic
   73  availability and deployment of broadband Internet service in
   74  this state as necessary to ensure that the information is
   75  accurately presented and that rural, unserved, and underserved
   76  areas of this state are best positioned to benefit from federal
   77  and state broadband deployment programs.