HONOLULU — Hawaii will soon see an expansion in affordable and reliable high-speed internet access through a grant of over $149 million, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced Tuesday.
NTIA has approved Hawaii’s initial proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, enabling the state to request funding and begin implementation of the federal “Internet for All” initiative by President Joe Biden’s administration to provide affordable, reliable and high-speed internet across the country — a $65 billion investment.
According to federal officials, 7% of Hawaii households do not have access to a device, 10% of the population is not using the internet and 9% of households don’t have access to either the internet or a device.
“Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Department of Commerce is ensuring everyone in Hawaii, and all across America, has access to affordable, reliable high-speed Internet,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “Congratulations to the team in Hawaii. We look forward to working with you to ensure everyone in the state is connected.”
Almost $150 million has been allocated to the program to build high-speed internet infrastructure and support efforts to teach skills and provide equipment for internet access. NTIA awarded over $6.5 million to the Digital Equity Act Programs — State Digital Equity Planning Grant and Digital Equity State Capacity Grant Program.
Additionally, over $17 million was awarded to the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to help rural Native Hawaiian areas address technology gaps and build broadband capacity for telehealth, distance learning, tele-work and digital literacy.
Hawaiian Telcom received over $37 million to develop sustainable, open-access middle-mile infrastructure, benefiting unserved and underserved communities and improving broadband resilience in Hawaii.
“Our island state is very unique in that we are many islands, and we have to be connected to each other first, even before thinking about being connected to the continent or international nations,” Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said Tuesday. “The connection between our islands — which is dependent on undersea cable and a lot of our infrastructure — those are aging infrastructure, and $149 million will be really important to ensure that we have redundancy and reliability.”
Approximately 8,000 to 10,000 locations across the state, primarily in rural areas, have been identified as targets for the initial NTIA funding to establish connectivity, according to Garret Yoshimi, vice president for information technology and chief information officer at the University of Hawaii.
Yoshimi told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the grantee award process involves rigorous competitive procedures, with construction development anticipated to commence around late 2025 and extend into early 2026.
The funding timeline allows the state several years for deployment execution, and once private contractors are identified as partners, Yoshimi anticipates immediate fund deployment.
Regarding the selection of companies, Yoshimi clarified that individual firms are not predetermined in the initial proposal. The department plans to conduct a public competitive process to select the best technology at optimal costs for fund deployment, expecting participation from both existing incumbents and potential new providers.
“It is important to make sure that we’ve got the right requirements in place, or the providers, we make sure that they’re going to be able to provide service over a period of time,” Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alan Davidson said. “Our expectation is that — and the whole purpose of this program is — with the infusion of capital, we’re being able to provide the capital expenses to build out this infrastructure. We’re confident then that people will be able to deliver on it.”
Following the high-profile case in June involving Sandwich Isles Communications, which ceased telecommunications services for approximately 1,500 customers on Hawaiian homelands, Luke said the new funding “is a great opportunity for us to improve our aging infrastructure.”
She emphasized that dealing with issues related to Sandwich Isles had heightened her awareness of aging infrastructure challenges beyond those specific to the company.
Davidson emphasized that the case underscores the importance of thorough planning to ensure all necessary requirements and providers are carefully considered, with an expectation of sustained, reliable service provision over time.
“With the infusion of capital, we’re able to provide the capital expenses to build out this infrastructure — we’re confident then that people will be able to deliver,” Davidson said. “It will take several years; some of it’s going to happen quickly; the long tail of it may take longer; but the plan is in place now to make sure that everybody’s connected.”
