Hawaiian Telcom Honored for Commitment to Rural Broadband Deployment

Hawaiian Telcom was honored by the world’s largest technical professionals organization – the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – at their global conference held in Kona last week.

Hawaiian Telcom President and General Manager John Komeiji accepted the organization’s inaugural General Chair’s Award for the company’s efforts in bringing broadband access to Hawai‘i’s rural areas. The award recognizes exemplary industry service to humanity within the region where GLOBECOM is held.

This year Hawaiian Telcom enabled broadband service with speeds up to 940 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 300 Mbps upload to more than 2,000 locations primarily on Maui in Makawao, and on the Big Island in Glenwood, Kohala, Nā‘ālehu and Volcano.

Hawaiian Telcom President and General Manager John Komeiji accepted IEEE’s inaugural General Chair’s Award for the company’s efforts in bringing broadband access to Hawai‘i’s rural areas. PC: Hawaiian Telcom

Speeds up to 940 Mbps enable multiple connected devices to run bandwidth-intense applications like streaming video, security cameras and online gaming simultaneously.

This speed increase is aligned with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ July 2019 report on Fixed Wireline Broadband Speeds in Hawai‘i that highlights year-over-year speed increases in Hawai‘i.

Company executives say the most significant speed increases were in Hawai‘i County with mean download speeds increasing by 28.15 Mbps and mean upload speeds increasing by 7.4 Mbps.

Hawaiian Telcom’s rural broadband deployment is partially supported by the Connect America Fund, a Federal Communications Commission program aimed at expanding access to broadband services in rural areas that are unserved or underserved.

Over the past five years, Hawaiian Telcom has successfully deployed broadband to more than 10,000 homes and businesses in rural areas statewide. About 80% of this deployment is on the Big Island.

“Broadband is a necessity in today’s world, enabling access to business, e-commerce, education, healthcare and cultural enrichment opportunities as well as government resources,” said Komeiji. “Hawaiian Telcom remains committed to expanding broadband access across our island state.”