Hawaiian Telecom (NASDAQ:HCOM) has accepted about US$26m in support from the FCC’s Connect America Fund (CAF).
The Honolulu-based telco will receive US$4m annually for six years – from 2015 to 2020 – to continue expanding high-speed internet services in rural areas. Specifically, it will deploy 10mbps downstream and 1mbps upstream to about 11,000 unserved locations, mostly on neighbouring islands.
CEO Scott Barber commented: “CAF Phase II support will allow us to deploy service to island communities that currently have no access to high-speed internet.”
The CAF Phase II funds will replace the US$1.9m in annual support the telco currently receives under the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF). The commission created the CAF in 2011 to reform the USF, which consumers contribute to via their monthly phone bills.
Hawaiian Telecom used about US$1.4m in CAF Phase I funds to deploy high-speed internet to about 500 locations in Kea’au on Hawai’i Island. It aims to extend service to an extra 1,300 locations in the Hawai’i Ocean View Estates, Honaunau, Kea’au, Mountain View and Volcano communities by the end of the year.
Fellow incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) Frontier Communications, Windstream and FairPoint Communications have also accepted CAF Phase II funding. However, larger telcos such as AT&T, CenturyLink and Verizon have yet to announce whether or not they will do so.