An estimated 4,500 internet and 16,000 voice customers in West Hawaii were affected on Tuesday when a Hawaiian Telcom fiber-optic cable was severed in Waikoloa.
According to Goodfellow Bros. Regional Manager John Makoff, a crew was working on a new Hawaiian Electric Co. substation being built to connect to the AES solar and storage project mauka of Waikoloa Village when an excavator bucket was too high and severed an overhead Hawaiian Telcom fiber-optic cable, cutting off landline phones, cellular service and internet to West Hawaii customers for hours.
“We take every precaution we can,” he said. “This was an unfortunate event.”
The problem, according to a 2013 report by the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, is that the Big Island’s fiber “ring” isn’t actually a ring. Instead, it’s more like a slightly upside-down letter “C,” with a 22-mile gap from Volcano to Pahala. A complete ring around the island would provide redundancy, preventing outages like the one experienced Tuesday.
Hawaiian Electric upgraded and relocated power lines through Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, a process that allowed Spectrum and Hawaiian Telcom to share space on the poles to complete the broadband loop. The National Park Service in September 2019 completed a 90-page finding of no significant environmental impact as part of an environmental assessment. Hawaiian Telcom has not completed its portion of the loop.
“Completion of the fiber-optic cable ring project is a priority for Hawaiian Telcom this year,” said Ann Nishida Fry, Hawaiian Telcom spokesperson. “When the fiber gap between Volcano and Pahala is closed, there will be redundancy that will minimize future interruptions in service.”
Fry said there are a number of permits required for the project.
“We have secured permits from Hawaii County and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and are working on a build timeline so that we can obtain the final permits. Our plans are to complete the work before the end of the year,” she said.
Kailua-Kona resident Aaron Stene, a passionate technology user who has studied the island’s cable issues extensively, wrote an email to Mayor Mitch Roth on Wednesday expressing his concern.
“I implore that you speak with Hawaiian Telcom’s management urging them to complete the fiber-optic ring between Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Pahala,” he wrote. The completion of the fiber-optic ring would’ve prevented HTI’s service outage that affected the west side of the Big Island. This latest outage is at least the fourth service outage in the last 9 years affecting the same geographical area.”
Stene received a reply from County Managing Director Lee Lord stating the director of the Department of Information Technology will be looking into the concerns.
Fry added that Hawaiian Telcom has been integrating assets that they acquired from the former Paniolo Cable Co. into their network across the state over the past year.
“We are preparing to start work that will establish diversity to Kona,” she said. “I’d like to add that our Hawaii Island team worked really hard to repair the severed fiber and get service restored to all customers as quickly as possible. They are amazing individuals, truly dedicated to their jobs and to serving Hawaii.”