Communications in the 21st century means that everything — voice, video and other data — must move lightning-fast.

Any state with an interest in building economic growth through innovation needs to create robust networks to support high-speed broadband transmissions, including fast Internet connections.

Hawai'i is such a state. It has already embarked on a mission to create more science and technology-based jobs and train the next generation through specialized education.

To lure businesses here, the Islands will have to provide the support system a tech industry needs. State-of-the-art Internet speed is a boon to education, opening virtual classrooms and allowing broad sharing of projects among students and teachers. And it enables the medical establishment to share patient data and communicate in real time.

The state's Broadband Task Force, which issued its report in December, laid out a clear roadmap to move the state from where it is — near the bottom among states for average Internet speeds — to where it needs to be.

An important first step should be taken this legislative session by passing House Bill 1077, sponsored by the Lingle administration, to create the Hawai'i Communications Commission.

This is the logical beginning of a long journey. Oversight over communications is divided between the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (cable service) and the Public Utilities Commission (telephone service), which made sense in an era when those services were distinct.

But now that cable companies offer phone service and customers access the Net through their phone company as well as cable, a single regulatory body is a must.

Gov. Linda Lingle says existing fees will cover the cost of this reorganization. Lawmakers must make sure that's so, in these penny-pinching times.

The new commission should help the state to address one of the concerns raised the task force, that the state requires too many permits and adds too much delay to projects that could improve its connectivity.

To achieve higher Net speeds, Hawai'i needs to tap into the trans-Pacific fiber-optic cables — larger "pipelines" enabling a heavy data stream to cross oceans from Hawai'i and back. The big cables installed since 2001 have bypassed the Islands.

If Hawai'i hopes to bring future links through the state, those underwriting much of the cost should not have to jump through excessive regulatory hoops. A single commission riding herd on such permits — the "one-stop shop" recommended by the task force — would help.

Many more hurdles remain. For example, Hawai'i needs its fiber-optic network to be shared by all service providers to keep the cost of upgrades down. Currently, networks are proprietary, and enabling next-generation communications will require negotiations, compensating all players adequately for their contributions to the network.

A means of financing new upgrades also will need discussion, to allow service providers to deliver high performance at a competitive cost to consumers.

But state lawmakers must not be discouraged by the challenges ahead. To catch up with markets that are miles ahead, Hawai'i had better rev its engines now and set up a regulatory system that will let growth happen.