Plans to digitally connect the Hawaiian Islands are all at sea, thanks to submarine cabling. As the Star Advisor reports, the Hawaiian Island Fiber Link will bring high speed broadband delivery to each island and will accommodate all carriers. The announcement was made by the University of Hawaii, which will also oversee the project.
“This is part of our plan to guarantee the state’s internet connectivity,” stated Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke. “In the last few years, we’ve become aware of how important connectivity is, and we have over $500 million in federal grants, state funds and private funds available to make sure everyone has access.” Luke was appointed by Gov. Josh Green to helm the collaboration of carriers and government agencies that will comprise the Connect Kakou initiative.
The Connect Kakou project, according to the Advisor, with a projected price tag of $120 million, is part of Hawaii’s overall strategy to extend coverage to all state residents by 2027. By the time the project is completed, it will have deployed 442.5 miles of undersea cable with 24 fiber pairs. Each of the fiber pairs will be able to carry a minimum of 18 Tbps.
Ocean Network has been engaged by the Research Corp. of the University of Hawaii to lay the undersea cable. It’s really going to be good for the state,” said Cliff Miyake, Ocean Network’s VP of Business Development. “The total system would be 432 terabytes of data per second. Three hundred to 400 terabytes of data per second would allow about 17.5 million people streaming high-quality videos at the same time.”
As the Star Advisor notes, the Connect Kakou project aims to connect the estimated 10,000 Hawaiians currently without digital access.
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