Volunteers Sought After in Broadband Study

The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ Cable Television Division is launching a program called Measuring Broadband Hawai’i and is seeking volunteers to participate. The program measures consumers’ internet speed and performance.

Volunteers from communities around the islands are invited to participate.

Launch of the program is an attempt to expand Hawai’i’s team of volunteers under the Federal Communication Commission’s Measuring Broadband America program, which is a nationwide study of consumer broadband performance.

One of the goals of the Measuring Broadband Hawai’i program is to increase the information available to consumers and policy makers about internet service performance across the state, with special focus on rural communities.

Individuals who wish to participate in the program will receive free devices, referred to as “whiteboxes,” that plug into their cable or DSL modem. These devices will run periodic tests to measure the speed and quality of the internet experience the participant is receiving.

Personal browsing data will not be collected by the boxes, and the participants’ internet experience will not be affected.

A personal reporting suite will be available for the participants, which will allow the monitoring of their own internet service performance in real-time.

Instruction on participation, as well as a sign-up page, is available by visiting this website.