Hawaii continues to make progress in its effort to provide broadband internet to rural areas, neighbor islands and even parts of urban Oahu despite cuts to federal funding.
Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke has made it a priority to connect all residents to affordable reliable internet.
Hawaiian Telcom said it already has connected Molokai, Lanai and Kauai to broadband internet access.
The company remains on track to service Maui by the end of this year and all of Oahu and Hawaii island by the end of 2026, it said.
The lack of affordable broadband was highlighted during the COVID-19 era, when students attended classes remotely — many without access to internet in their own homes — and other residents couldn’t benefit from telehealth care.
U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda knows that internet access remains a daily struggle for many people and businesses in her district which covers rural Oahu and all of the neighbor islands.
“People need to be able to fill out forms, people need to be able to access meetings and access appointments,” Tokuda recently told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser by phone, just after regaining internet service, driving out of Olowalu, Lahaina.
“I do believe we’ve made progress, but given that we are dependent on internet access, we cannot move fast enough,” she said.
Luke launched Connect Kakou, a state initiative to provide communities with affordable access to high-speed internet and digital literacy, in November 2023.
The Connect Kakou initiative initially had $398.8 million in federal funding plus $46 million in state funding, until $6 million was cut by the federal government from Connect Kakou’s digital-equity fund.
“What was terminated was known as digital-equity funds,” Luke said. “That was specifically designated to help certain populations that the federal government initially said needed a lot of help. People with disabilities, people who are veterans, Native Hawaiians, lower income and houseless population.”
Although the funding cut reduces the financial capability to target specific populations, Luke said that the remaining funding will be reorganized.
“It’s still something that was needed but we have to just prioritize and move things around,” she said. “That was just a small part of the entire amount that has been given to the state of Hawaii.”
Connect Kakou remains in Phase Two of planning to connect the islands via undersea cable technology.
“Laying lines and providing services has to be approved by the federal government so there’s a lot of coordination that’s still being planned out,” Luke said.
While the state continues to make progress, using a combination of state and federal funds, independent service provider Hawaiian Telcom has worked to do the same with private funding.
Jason Thune, Hawaiian Telcom’s vice president of fiber strategy and deployment, said that the company is on its way to providing broadband access to all Hawaii households.
Hawaiian Telcom’s efforts have been backed by $1.7 billion, most of which comes from private investors.
“Hawaiian Telcom’s goal is to make Hawaii the first fully fiber-enabled state in the nation by the end of 2026,” Thune wrote in an email to the Star-Advertiser.
Fiber internet refers to a type of internet connection that uses fiber optic cables to transmit data.
“We completed our fiber expansion on Molokai and Lanai in 2023, and just completed Kauai this month,” he wrote. “We will be completing fiber expansion on Maui by the end of this year, and Oahu and Hawaii Island by the end of 2026.”
It’s crucial that residents have the option to access the internet within in their own communities, but Thune knows that digital equity means more than that.
“It is important to note that besides fiber infrastructure, other factors that influence digital adoption are access to devices such as monitors, tablets, and mobile phones; training to use these devices; and affordable internet service,” he wrote.
Luke’s Connect Kakou initiative plans to address digital literacy with the support of House Bill 934, which she signed into law as acting governor earlier this month.
HB 934 establishes Hawaii’s Broadband Office within the state Department of Accounting and General Services, which will oversee much of the initiative’s progress and fund six new “digital navigator” positions based at public libraries statewide, which the state’s libraries support.
“Digital navigators are trusted guides who will help ensure no one is left behind in the digital age and we are so excited to grow this program,” Stacey A. Aldrich, Hawaii’s state librarian, said in a statement.
Honolulu Council member Radiant Cordero, whose district includes Kalihi, knows how important digital navigator programs can be because some of her constituents initially expressed having difficulty communicating with her.
“I had to keep my fax line open when I got into office in 2021,” Cordero said.
But today Cordero notices much more engagement when sending information digitally to her community, with even senior citizens accessing her messages comfortably.
“I think it’s because the libraries took on computer classes,” Cordero said. “Many people found solace there because they were with others to learn.”
Source: The Garden Island