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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0170.002 2000-2002sandwich �gle6 Communication(g, ;Xnc. A Waimana Company Sandwich Isles Communications Network for Hawaiian Home Lands Fact Sheet (5/01) In partnership with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service (RUS), Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc. (SIC) will be building a modern, next generation, high-speed, broadband fiber optic cable telecommunications infrastructure to service all Hawaiian Home Lands parcels. DHHL granted SIC a license to build, operate, and connect all Hawaiian Home Lands (HHL) parcels statewide with a network that will deliver telephony and broadband services that are affordable and accessible to all HHL residents. SIC is financed by long term, low interest RUS loans and private funding, and will be expending at least $500 million over the next 3 to 5 years to construct and operate the network. SIC is currently serving seven (7) new HHL communities. Six (6) more new communities are scheduled for service by yearend 2001. SIC SIC was founded in 1995 in response to a request from DHHL that sought to provide DHHL with a modern telecommunications infrastructure at no cost to DHHL or its beneficiaries. SIC is a native Hawaiian -owned and operated company, and has obtained a State of Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Certificate of Authority to operate and service HHL as a defined geographic service area. SIC has been designated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a rural local exchange carrier (RLEC) and eligible for Universal Service Fund support to build and operate the network and service HHL. Since SIC initiated local exchange services and became operational in 1998, it has invested approximately $35 million in facilities, digital switching and related equipment and services. HHL Created by the U.S. Congress in 1920, HHL was established to assist native Hawaiians in the areas of education, healthcare and economic development. The HHL Homesteading Program makes land available to native Hawaiian beneficiaries on a lease basis for $1 a year for 99 years. The HHL inventory includes 69 non-contiguous parcels totaling 200,000 acres located on the 6 major Hawaiian Islands. HHL lands are available for residential, agricultural and pastoral use by native Hawaiian beneficiaries. DHHL has 6,500 existing leases, and another 29,000 applications for leases. Commercial leases are granted to provide financial support to help HHL sustain its programs that benefit its beneficiaries. RUS The RUS is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and its mission is to promote and financially support the development of utility infrastructure and services in rural America, so that every American in the rural and insular areas has affordable access to emergency essential and modern utility conveniences enjoyed in urban areas. In fulfilling its mission, RUS provides long-term, low interest loans to rural telephone companies like SIC and projects like the SIC Network for HHL. In partnership with SIC and HHL, RUS has committed funding in excess of $400 million in loans to SIC to support the construction and operation of the SIC Network and the delivery of affordable telecommunications access and services to HHL and its residents. SIC Network The SIC network will be an all -fiber optic cable network, and it will be independent of any existing networks owned and operated by other existing providers in the State of Hawaii. It will traverse 1,500 terrestrial and undersea route miles. The submarine portion of the network will connect the six major Hawaiian Islands with primary and alternate routes. On land, the network will be an all -underground infrastructure, and it will also have primary and alternate routes. It will be a self -healing network, as the primary and alternate routes will create intra -state redundancy. The network will feature the latest technology and greatest number of fiber in the state with exceptional bandwith capacity. It is expected that the communities between the HHL parcels on the six islands will also realize the benefits of a new and modern telecommunications infrastructure. Network Benefits HHL and beneficiaries will gain an independent, new and modernized telecommunications infrastructure with access to advanced services at affordable rates. The non-contiguous nature of the 69 HHL parcels on the six major Hawaiian Islands makes the network a statewide network that will create immediate and future construction and high tech primary and ancillary jobs. It will also create or attract new high tech and other businesses to HHL, the state and all counties. In addition, at least $500 million in new construction capital will be infused into the state economy over the next 3 to 5 years. Contact Information Gil Tam VP, Administration & Community Affairs Sandwich Isle Communications, Inc. 1001 Bishop Street, Pauahi Tower #2700 Honolulu, HI 96813 Ph: (808) 540-5737 Fax: (808) 599-4653 E-mail: giltam(awaimana.com Ntow j........... H d R � L V L i L . ..... 0:01 d AWK* w Z ........... � I� a 0 ot� Ch ON --wk .4mm 4-J %ape t ur) �E 4—J V) (1) U Ln 4-J u 4-4 2 4-J %ape t �E 4—J V) 4-J u 4-4 2 L. 4-J —0 Ln 0 O'o J Z 2 p '?R NA1 wwvoas - - 4'- fuCE3: A g p '?R NA1 wwvoas - - 4'- fuCE3: 0 0a g 9000000L p '?R NA1 wwvoas - - 4'- a. kl.O Ln Un a. 570 0 Lr) 4-J Ul 0 c 41- _ •+ «., x x P %��'JOOOOF x 4 4 '°° 1 H, mevaeQ % .: - - x %��'JOOOOF x 4 4 '°° 1 H, mevaeQ % .: - - tz OR j ............ CL ........ .. ............. ... ...... ....... .... . ... .......... ... .... .. .. . ......... K i. `.� ?�: >i8": `;7�i: :�:[r`�: ?�;: fes" �, ' *'s v .-+ a X U a G ds � Aw: : r i �i U' G :: �� 0 �� .� v v�: 'g � '� � �0 �� • U' G� �� < �' 0 �� a U �� 'U � G � �0 �� s fu NO. 00-124 SUPPORTING THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICE PROJECT WHEREAS, the State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands ("DHHL") is undertaking a statewide project to provide a broadband, high speed, telecommunications system to Hawaiian Home Lands ("HHL"); and WHEREAS, Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc. ("SIC'), a native Hawaiian -owned and operated company, has obtained a Public Utilities Commission ("PUC') Certificate of Authority to service HHL as a defined geographic service area, and has been designated by the Federal Communications Commission as a rural telephone company and granted a license by DHHL to undertake this project; and WHEREAS, a minimum of $500 million will be expended over the next three to five years to build, connect, and service all HHL parcels with a modern high-speed fiber optic cable infrastructure at no cost to DHHL; and WHEREAS, the project will (1) provide HHL with an independent, new and modernized telecommunications infrastructure with access to advanced services; (2) create immediate and future construction and high-tech jobs; (3) create or attract new high-tech and other businesses to HHL, the State, and all counties; and (4) connect six major islands with undersea cables and underground infrastructure on land; and WHEREAS, the project will receive funding from the Federal Rural Utilities Service (°RUS") through a low-cost loan program, and together with private funding, will cover the capital investment for the infrastructure; and WHEREAS, this project will provide inexpensive telecommunications for families on HHL throughout the State which will enable them to have access to information over a broad network, which is a necessary building block in Hawaiians achieving self-sufficiency; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the County of Maui: That it hereby supports the State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Telecommunications Infrastructure and Service Project; Resolution No. 00-124 2. That it encourages the County of Maui to provide expedient and consistent access to public rights of way that is needed to connect Hawaiian Home Lands parcels to the project infrastructure; and 3. That certified copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Honorable James "Kimo" Apana, Mayor of the County of Maui; Mr. Albert Hee, President of Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc.; and Mr. Raynard Soon, Chairman, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, State of Hawaii. ed:miscseso06b COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF MAUI WAILUKU, HAWAII 96793 CERTIFICATION OF ADOPTION It is HEREBY CERTIFIED that RESOLUTION NO. 00-124 was adopted by the Council of the County of Maui, State of Hawaii, on the 15th day of September, 2000, by the following vote: D UTY COUNTY CLERK Patrick S. Dein P. Michael A. J. Kalani John Wayne G. RIM Dennis Y. Wayne K. Charmaine MEMBERS KAWANO KANE DAVIS ENGLISH ENRIQUES HOKAMA NAKAMURA NISHIKI TAVARES Chair Vice-0hair ROLL CALL Aye Aye Aye Aye Aye Aye Aye Aye Aye D UTY COUNTY CLERK CITY COUNCIL CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU HONOLULU, HAWAII RESOLUTION ,.. No. 00®2 i 2 SUPPORTING THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICE PROJECT. WHEREAS, the State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands ("DHHL") is undertaking a statewide project to provide a broadband, high-speed telecommunications system to Hawaiian Home Lands ("HHL"); and WHEREAS, Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc. ("SIC"), a native Hawaiian -owned and operated company, has obtained a Public Utilities Commission ("PUC") Certificate of Authority to service HHL as a defined geographic service area, and has been designated by the Federal Communications Commission as a rural telephone company and granted a license by DHHL to undertake this project; and WHEREAS, a minimum of $500 million will be expended over the next three to five years to build, connect, and service all HHL parcels with a modern high-speed fiber optic cable infrastructure at no cost to DHHL; and WHEREAS, the project will: (1) provide HHL with an independent, new and modernized telecommunications infrastructure with access to advanced services; (2) create immediate and future construction and high-tech jobs; (3) create or attract new high-tech and other businesses to HHL, the State, and all counties; and (4) connect six major islands with undersea cables and underground infrastructure on land; and WHEREAS, the project will receive funding from the Rural Utilities Service ("RUS"), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, through a low-cost loan program, and together with private funding, will cover the capital investment for the infrastructure; and WHEREAS, this project will provide affordable telecommunications services for families on HHL throughout the State, which will enable the families to have access to information over a high-speed broadband network, and utilize services such as distance learning, telemedicine, and video conferencing; now, therefore, PPS OCS00678.R00 ......................... ......... ................. ................. •� CITY COUNCIL CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU o Q HONOLULU, HAWAII NO. -272 RESOLUTION BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City and County of Honolulu: and 1. That it hereby supports the State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Telecommunications Infrastructure and Service Project; and 2. That it encourages the City Administration to expedite the plan review and permitting processes for access to the public rights-of-way needed to construct and connect the project infrastructure to all Hawaiian Home Lands parcels; -2- RESOLUTION BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED THAT certified copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Honorable Jeremy Harris, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu; Mr. Albert Hee, President of Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc.; and Mr. Raynard Soon, Chairman, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, State of Hawaii. DATE OF INTRODUCTION: NOV 2 2 2000 Honolulu, Hawaii (OCS/111600/ct) -3- CITY COUNCIL CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU HONOLULU, HAWAII I hereby certify that the foregoing RESOLUTION was opted by the COUNCIL OF THE CITY AND COUNTY = HONOLULU on the date and by the vote indicated to the right. TEST: cNEVIEVE G. 4G?HAIR YOSHIMU A City Clerk D PR OFFICER Dated 1/24/01 Councilmembers ADOPTED MEETING HELD 1/24/01 AYE NO A/E BAINUM X CACHOLA X D®SOTO X FELIX X HOLMES MANSHO X MIRI KITANI OKINO is YOSHIMURA X 9 0 0 Reference: Report No. PPS -20 Resolution NO. 00-272 COUNTY COUNCIL COUNTY OF KAUAI lu ft Ja n No. 2001-22 RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICE PROJECT WHEREAS, the State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands ("DHHL") is undertaking a statewide project to provide a broadband, high-speed telecommunications system to Hawaiian Home Lands ("HHL"); and WHEREAS, Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc. ("SIC"), a native Hawaiian -owned and operated company, has obtained a Public Utilities Commission ("PUC") Certificate of Authority to service HHL as a defined geographic service area, and has been designated by the Federal Communications Commission as a rural telephone company and granted a license by DHHL to undertake this project; and WHEREAS, a minimum of $500 million will be expended over the next three to five years to build, connect, and service all HHL parcels with a modern high-speed fiber optic cable infrastructure at no cost to DHHL; and WHEREAS, the project will (1) provide HHL with an independent, new and modernized telecommunications infrastructure with access to advanced services; (2) create immediate and future construction and high-tech jobs; (3) create or attract new high-tech and other businesses to HHL, the State, and all counties; and (4) connect six major islands with undersea cables and underground infrastructure on land; and WHEREAS, the project will receive funding from the Rural Utilities Service ("RUS"), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, through a low-cost loan program, and together with private funding, will cover the capital investment for the infrastructure; and WHEREAS, this project will provide affordable telecommunications services for families on HHL throughout the State, which will enable the families to have access to information over a high-speed broadband network, which is a necessary building block for Hawaiians to achieve self-sufficiency;. now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI, STATE OF HAWAII, that it supports the State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Telecommunications Infrastructure and Service Project. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it encourages the County Administration to expedite the plan review and permitting processes for access to the public rights-of-way needed to construct and connect the project infrastructure to all Hawaiian Home Lands parcels. BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that certified copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Honorable Maryanne W. Kusaka, Mayor, County of Kauai; Mr. Albert Hee, President of Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc.; and Mr. Raynard Soon, Chairman, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, State of Hawaii. Introduced by: �/ n RONALD D. KOUCHI CERTIFICATE OF ADOPTION We hereby certify that Resolution No. 2001-22 was adopted by the Council of the County of Kauai, State of Hawaii, LLiihuue, Kauai, Hawaii, on April 11, 2001. I , Comfy Clerk Chairman & Presiding O11cer Dated 4/12/2001 Aye May Ezc. Asing X Baptiste X Hoover X Xaneshiro X Kouchi X Tokia&a X Valenciano X TOTAL 7 0 0 Introduced by: �/ n RONALD D. KOUCHI CERTIFICATE OF ADOPTION We hereby certify that Resolution No. 2001-22 was adopted by the Council of the County of Kauai, State of Hawaii, LLiihuue, Kauai, Hawaii, on April 11, 2001. I , Comfy Clerk Chairman & Presiding O11cer Dated 4/12/2001 ... ....... ... ...... COMMUNi f% fr i�{ { r ' COVER STORY' Z i In A I A1 Hee, resident or Sandwich Isles Communications Inc. (SIC) knows that if his company is successful in Kahikinui, it can be successful any- where. The 20,000- acre 0,000!acre ahu uaa on the slopes of Haleakala is the largest and most remote parcel in the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' (DHHL) inventory. THE CABLE GUYS: DHHL Coordinator Rodney Kaulupali and SIC President At Hee check on Kahikinui's relay station; The two and SIC's Gil Tam survey the land- scape; The cable. PHOTOS :RONEN ZILBERMAN COPPER COMMUTE: The only way to get to Kahikinui Is via a dirt road or helicopter. (above) Sandwich isles Communications Inc. CEO Robert Kihune. An hour's drive from Kahului Airport, Kahikinui is up the road from Upcountry Maui's Ulupalakua Ranch and is as beautiful as it is brutal. Once verdant rainforest, the area, which trans- lates into "big Tahiti," is now wind-swept scrubland, sunny and hot in the daytime and foggy and cold at night. Since 1998, two families have called the vast area home. They have no electricity or water --true homesteaders. But last month, thanks to Hee and his company, the homesteaders now have telephone service and DHHL can start placing an additional 70 families who have been waiting to settle Kahikinui. "Thus is really at the heart of what we are trying to do," says the camera -shy Hee as he gazes down at far-off Makena and Wailea. "Vile are bringing telephone service to Hawaiian homesteaders no matter where they live. By the time we are finished people here will be able to surf the Web as well as anyone in Honolulu. They'll be able to work from home or start their own on-line businesses." Founded in 1995, Sandwich Isles Communications Inc. is a rural telecom- munications company that has an exclu- sive agreement with DHHL to provide telephone service to the agency's 69 non- contiguous parcels totaling some 200,000 acres and located on the six major www.hawaiibusiness.cc HAWAII BUSINESS APRIL 2001 Hawaiian Islands. The company is financed primarily by long-term, low- interest loans totaling more than $400 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), which is responsible for promot- ing and supporting the development of utility infrastructure and services in rural America. This federal program is not based on race and has been in existence for more than 50 years. SIC's project is the first application of RUS funds in Hawaii. In 1998 SIC completed its first pro- ject, providing telephone service to home- steaders in DHHL's latest Wa,manalo development. Laiopua, above Kona, was next, followed by Kulana Oiwi in Kaunakakai on Molokai in 1999 and Kalawahine next door to Oahu's Papakolea. Other projects include Puukapu in Waimea on the Big Island, Kapolei on Oahu, and the aforemen- tioned Kahikinui. "We are going as fast as Hawaiian Home Lands can build their projects," says retired Vice Adm. Robert Kihnue, SIC's CFA. "We want to make sure that when they build the easements to their roads our cables go right into that trench." The infrastructure that SIC builds comes at no cost to DHHL or its benefi- ciaries, which means the department saves millions of dollars and eventually more Hawaiians can be settled on home- lands at an accelerated rate. SIC's cus- tomers pay comparable rates to others in the state for telephone service. "Back when I was doing subdivision work, the cost for telephone infrastruc- ture might have been as much as $1,000 a house," says Mike McElroy, DHHL's land management administrator. "It real- ly adds up and that is money we don't have to spend. We can stretch our dollars much further now." So far, SIC has invested $30 million in facilities, digital switching and related equipment and services. And the road has not always been smoothgoing, with SIC officials facing as many man-made barriers as natural ones. According to Hee, it took him four years to receive a license from DHHL and three years to get through the Public Utilities Commission when it takes three months for other applicants. "When we first decided to do this everyone was blocking us and doubting us," says Kihune. "They looked at us like we were crazy. But we had a good goal and that's what drove us." But as difficult as it was to navigate through government bureaucracy or con- COVER STORY: www.hawaiibusiness.cc HAWAII BUSINESS APRIL 2001 UV COVER STORY HAWAII BUSINESS APRIL 2001 nect places like Kahikinui to the rest of the world, SIC's job is about to get a lot tougher. Beginning later this summer and over the next three to five years, SIC will be working on the next phase of its grand plan, connecting all these communities (and all of Hawaii) to a 1,500 -mile state- of-the-art fiber-optic network. Laying the fiber in the ground, which will stretch from rural landscapes like Kahikimn to the urban jungle of Honolulu and beyond, will cost more than $150 million. Laying down the submarine portions of the network will cost an additional $70 million. With 48 fibers, the network's pipes will have at least twice the capacity of any other fiber-optic network in the state. In addition, SIC technicians will have the ability to increase that carrying capacity many times over thanks to recent devel- opments in "multiplying" technology. They will also be dropping five empty conduits in the pipe for good measure. The entire network --the only alt -fiber one in the state,—will be either under- ground or underwater during its trek around the state. The cables will be inserted into micro tunnels through the crowded streets of downtown Honolulu, tiny openings as small as five or six inches in diameter that are dug without disturb- ing the surface. Again, state-of-the- art technology. According to Hee, the resulting net- work will benefit Hawaiian homesteaders and nearly all residents of Hawaii in a number of different ways. First, home- steaders will suddenly have access to all that the on-line world has to offer, mclud- ing cutting-edge communications, dis- tance learning, telemedicine and e-com- merce opportunities. "High-speed Internet access helps fulfill DHHL's goals in its mission: edu- cation, health care and economic devel- opment," says Gil Tam, the vice president who is in charge of administration and community affairs for SIC. Secondly, SIC will be also wiring DHHL's nonresidential areas where the department maintains income and eco- nomic development property all over the state. According to McElroy, DHHL has designated a wide swath of Oahu as a high-technology corridor, stretching from Kalaeloa (formerly Barber's Point) to the Stadium Bowl-O-Drome property in Moiliili. Other parcels along this corridor include the Waipahu drum site near Leeward Community College and the Halawa laundry site, across from Aloha Stadium. The department has just com- pleted a feasibility study to build a biotech center in Kalaeloa and will put www.hawaiibusiness.cc COVER STORY; i www.hawaiibusiness.cc COCONUT WIRED: Sandwich Isles Communicaitons Inc's network con- nects six Hawaiian Islands, some 1,500 miles in alt. developer proposals for bid for a high- tech center later this year for the Bowl- O-Drome property. McElroy says that he has received serious inquires about this property from high-profile compa- nies and research institutes because of the cutting-edge connections and prox- imity to the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Last, but certainly not least, SIC's vast network will be available to island businesses all throughout the state. (See sidebar on Page 18.) SIC officials try not to speculate about the possible opportunities that additional high-speed broadband access will bring the Islands. They liken themselves to road builders. What travels on the road or what is constructed beside it is anyone's guess. "For the same reason that wide-body jet travel made Hawaii a market for tourism, for the same reason that tall sail- ing ships made it possible to export prod- ucts from Hawaii a century and a half ago, broadband fiber is the pathway that allows Hawaii to participate in the new economy of the future," says Paul Brewbaker, chief economist, Bank of Hawaii. The impact of 1,500 miles of addition- al broadband wire may be hard to gauge, but Hee knows for sure that Hawaii's profile in the global high-tech community will be greatly enhanced. "Mainland executives come to a convention here and listen to all these claims about how much fiber we have coming into the state but that means nothing if they go back to their hotel and can't hook up," says Hee. "I don't know how many hotel rooms in Waikiki have Internet access, and I don't think there is anywhere you can get a T-1 connection. After we put our network in, you'll be able to do that." According to Hee, isolated Kahikinui and DHHL's efforts to place Hawaiians on land is emblematic of the plight of the entire state in the electronic global village. "You can bypass the Hawaiian home- lands and no one will know the differ- ence," says Hee. "Andyou can bypass Hawaii and no one will ever know the difference. The notion that Hawaii is the hub of communications throughout -the Pacific is just that, a notion. All the rhetoric doesn't mean anything if people visit here and aren't able to hook up to the Internet at the same speeds that they can at home." HAWAII BUSINESS APRIL 2001