Hawaii Expects $149M In BEAD Funding and Asks Residents for Input

Hawaii plans to distribute $149 million in funding for broadband projects, expanding access to 12,700 homes that lack adequate service. Honolulu Civil Beat reported that the state expects to begin awarding contracts to providers such as Charter Communications and Hawaiian Telcom, aiming to deliver higher levels of service by the end of 2024.

Federal funding comes from the BEAD program, but before deploying any money, the state must determine which areas of the island to focus on. Many of the locations that have already been identified are in isolated rural communities, reported Honolulu Civil Beat.

“One of the goals is to make sure that areas like Puna, areas like Hana, areas like Molokai, or some of the rural areas on Oahu are just as well connected as if you are living in urban Honolulu,” said Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke. 

The state is asking residents to identify which locations and communities could benefit from expanded service. Luke urges the public to submit comments on the initial BEAD proposal between now and December 10, to help guide the initiative.

On October 7, Hawaii launched an online portal to track broadband initiative projects, linking to maps that display homes and businesses that lack adequate service. According to Luke, the portal will allow transparency into the estimated $400 million in federal funding the state expects to receive for various broadband initiatives. 

The University of Hawaii is also supporting the state’s efforts by offering guidance on how to use maps produced by the FCC. “Adequate” broadband access is defined as a service of at least 100 Mbps and 20 Mbps uploads, reported Honolulu Civil Beat.

“The end game is 100 percent of residential locations have access to service,” said Garret Yoshimi, chief information officer for the University of Hawaii. “The principle around this deployment is we have access available to high-speed internet to 100 percent of the identified residential locations. Assuming we do it right, it will actually make a difference for a lot of people.”