HONOLULU — Work to help close the digital divide on Kaua‘i has already started.
“You know Kealia,” said Ann Nishida Fry, the Hawaiian Telcom senior manager of corporate communications in a phone conversation. “It’s nearly complete. And our Fioptics crew has started working in Anahola. Not all of Anahola is complete, yet, but a good portion of that town is now fiber internet.”
The Hawaiian Telcom service calendar plans to enable homes and businesses access to reliable, high-speed internet service in parts of Anahola, Kapa‘a, Kawaihau, Koloa, Moloa‘a, and Wailua. More homes and businesses on Kaua‘i will be enabled with fiber interet through the end of the year, states a Hawaiian Telcom release.
Hawaiian Telcom is the only provider to take fiber all the way to homes and businesses. The company has extended its fiber-optic infrastructure to nearly 10,000 Kaua‘i homes and businesses, enabling them with its ultra-fast 100 percent fiber internet service Fioptics that offers the fastest upload speed in the state, and among the fastest download speeds.
Extending fiber internet to parts of Kalaheo and Lawai are on Hawaiian Telcom’s expansion plan for the second half of the year.
Residents and businesses can visit hawaiiantel.com/fioptics to check if their home or business qualifies for Fioptics.
“We appreciate Hawaiian Telcom’s efforts to invest in our island and make Kaua‘i a priority in their broadband expansion efforts,” said Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami in the release. “Many of our residents have experienced vulnerability and isolation as a result of natural disasters like flooding and landslides. Improved connectivity will strengthen the resilience of our community.”
Since 2010, Hawaiian Telcom has invested more than $1 billion to expand its fiber footprint, maintain, and increase capacity of its communications network, and to support its integrated communication solutions for its business, residential and wholesale customers. Hawaiian Telcom invested more than $100 million in 2021.
“Reliable broadband access is in high demand here on Kaua‘i, and it’s exciting to see more fiber expansion on our island, especially in areas that previously did not have access or options,” said Duke Sardinha, the Hawaiian Telcom local manager on Kaua‘i since 2014. “We’ve extended a lot of fiber in Kealia and Kapa‘a.”
To further enhance digital equity in Hawai‘i, Hawaiian Telcom participaates in the federal Affordable Connectivity Program lthat provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households, and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying tribal lands.
Hawaiian Home Lands are considered qualifying tribal lands, and eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price.
For more information on the ACP program, visit www.fcc.gov/acp.
