Unique Challenges for 100% Broadband Access in Hawaii

Hawaii’s broadband landscape has challenges like no other U.S. state. So how do you deliver broadband access to 100% of the residents and businesses in the most remote of the 50 states? “100% is hard to get to, but we’re going to make a really good try to get there,” said Garret Yoshimi, Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer of the University of Hawaii. Yoshimi is not Hawaii’s state broadband director. But—as State Digital Equity Coordinator Burt Lum said—Yoshimi is the man to talk to about the Broadband Equity, Access, and Development (BEAD) Program and other efforts to expand broadband across the state. As an island state, Hawaii faces challenges most U.S. states don’t. Bringing high-speed broadband across the Pacific Ocean is not simple. Despite Hawaii’s unique challenges, Yoshimi is optimistic. “We’re trying to make sure that anybody interested in subscribing to the internet can have access on a statewide basis,” he said. “We think we have sufficient funds based on our best guesses and our financial models. That’s not true in all states. Several of them will likely fall short of getting to 100%. But we believe we have sufficient funds to do that.”