Tag Archives: Oceanic Time Warner Cable

January 12, 2012

Makalei Fire Station Project Update

By Aaron Stene

One of the county’s SMTP servers, which is outsourced to Pacific Pro-Tech, was red flagged as an originator of spam. This prevented anyone working for the county from e-mailing me between January 3rd and January 11th, 2012.

The manager, who is overseeing the Makalei Fire Station project, ran into this problem. He tried e-mailing me twice during this time, but his e-mails weren’t delivered until Tuesday.

This is the latest construction update for this important public safety facility:

“Work is progressing quite well, we’ve since gotten approvals from both HELCO and DWS for their utilities and been following up w/ Cable and Hawaiian Telcom on their utilities (need to get a pole relocated in the new driveway). Building interior work (drywall, plumbing, AC and electrical) are all progressing along. Waterline work down to the highway is almost completed and contractor is meeting w/ State Highways to do trenching work on the highway. Landscaping work has just started with temporary irrigation lines being installed and tree excavation starting.”

Kamuela attorney Margaret Wille has announced her intentions to run for Councilman Pete Hoffmann’s District 9 seat. I’m happy she decided to run. She’ll add much-needed perspective and intelligence to the council, if elected.

Lastly, Hawaiian Telcom still faces a lot of challenges despite successfully exiting Chapter 11 bankruptcy. For starters, their aging last mile infrastructure needs to be improved, if they want to remain a viable competitor to Oceanic Time Warner Cable.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Technology

December 27, 2011

Queen Kaahumanu Highway Widening Project Update

By Aaron Stene

The DCCA-CATV division and Oceanic Time Warner Cable mutually agreed to delay the DCCA’s final decision on their Hawaii County franchise renewal until March 1st, 2012.

Nan’s concrete subcontractor laid the concrete forms for the second segment of Palani Road from the fire station to the Henry Street intersection. In addition, they’ve poured concrete 1/3 of the way up this segment.

Nan is slated to begin pouring cement using the specialized concrete paving equipment starting the first week in January between the Henry Street intersection and the West Hawaii Civic Center.

I spoke to Isaac Harp over the weekend about the archaeological concerns raised by several Native Hawaiian Organizations regarding the Queen Kaahumanu Highway widening project. The NHO’s are waiting for the archaeologists to analyze the recently found sites in the northern segment.

I hope this project starts by April 2012. Nevertheless, I have strong doubts it will start by then. These archaeological issues can’t be taken lightly and need to be addressed before construction can begin.

Lastly, Inversecondemnation published an excellent commentary about Bridge Aina Le’a LLC’s lawsuit against the State Land Use Commission. The Federal Court in Honolulu recently held a hearing regarding this lawsuit. Judge Mollway asked the parties to file briefs explaining how the recent state Court ruling impacted this lawsuit and deferred this case until March 19, 2012.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Transportation

December 12, 2011

Saddle Road Project Update

By Aaron Stene

I’ve repeatedly e-mailed Oceanic Time Warner Cable asking if they resolved the speed issues with their 15Mbps and higher tiers. They apparently have, according to the person who recently called from Oceanic. In addition, I would need to get a separate cable modem, if I wanted to upgrade to the 30Mbps or 50Mbps tiers. The cable modem/eMTA that I have is only DOCSIS 2.0 compatible. The higher speeds require a DOCSIS 3.0 compatible cable modem.

Kirkland Construction may import construction workers from the mainland for the next Saddle Road phase. Nevertheless, Edwin DeLuz Trucking & Gravel LLC, a local company, was contracted to haul water to the project site to minimize dust and for fire protection. They will be hauling water to both sides of the project throughout the day starting in January.

The future of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, which is located on Mauna Kea, appears to be bright.

The new Kona Int’l Airport air traffic control tower is slated to be operational by December 2012.

Lastly, I really appreciate all the positive reader feedback regarding my blogging. Please continue to e-mail me your thoughts.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Technology, Hawaii Transportation

November 14, 2011

Hawaii Needs To Upgrade Its Communications Infrastructure

By Aaron Stene

Hawaiian Telcom and Wavecom Solutions (fnka as Pacific LightNet)/ TW Telecom’s submarine fiber-optic networks, which connect the Hawaiian Islands, are 17 and 14 years old. These critical communication links are nearing the end of life stage. However, these companies haven’t revealed their plans to replace these facilities.

The cost of laying new fiber is the likely reason why Hawaiian Telcom and Wavecom are standing pat. Paniolo Cable Company spent 185 million dollars connecting all the main Hawaiian Islands. This network, which is affiliated with Sandwich Isles Communications, was activated in early 2009.

The timing was fortuitous because Wavecom Solutions/TW Telcom’s submarine fiber-optic network suffered a catastrophic failure on July 27, 2010. This outage caused major problems statewide. For example, Oceanic Time Warner Cable had to lease 70Gbps bandwidth from Paniolo until the Wavecom/TW Telecom fiber was repaired.

The Internet is an important component of Hawaii’s economy. However, our terrestrial and submarine communications infrastructure is aging rapidly. This doesn’t bode well for Hawaii’s economic future.

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Technology

November 7, 2011

Palamanui College Campus Update

By Aaron Stene

West Hawaii Today recently published several letters to the editor (here, here, and here) regarding the upcoming Queen Kaahumanu Highway widening project. I believe these complaints could’ve been addressed if the DOT did a supplemental environmental assessment.

The current EA was done in 1996. The recently uncovered archaeological sites near the highway right of way could’ve been identified sooner if a supplemental EA was completed before this project was awarded. In addition, West Hawaii has dramatically changed since the original FEA was accepted. New developments, such as Kohanaiki Industrial Park and the Shores at Kohanaiki were built during this time. On top of that, NELHA has greatly expanded their presence.

The DCCA-CATV division and Oceanic Time Warner Cable recently agreed to extend the deadline to decide Oceanic’s Hawaii County cable franchise renewal application until December 31st, 2011.

Lanihau Properties LLC recently obtained their grading and NPDES permits on October 27th, 2011. This paves the way for them to begin excavation/grading work south of Kaloko Industrial Park next month.

Lastly, John Morton, Vice President for Community Colleges- University of Hawaii, provided this update regarding the future Palamanui college campus.

“Aaron,

The architect is slated to finish all design work in November and we will then submit the plans for county permits. The granting of the permits triggers the obligation for Palamanui to place their portion of the construction costs into escrow. Still on track for that to happen.”

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Transportation

October 3, 2011

The Conservative Forum For Hawaii Doesn’t Get It

By Aaron Stene

The Conservative Forum for Hawaii doesn’t get it. They believe Hawaii County should cut it’s budget to pay for infrastructure improvements instead of floating bonds or imposing impact fees. This isn’t a realistic way to address this issue. The county can only cut the budget so far before it affects essential services.

Impact fees would’ve helped to mitigate this problem. However, the county council failed to pass this legislation yet again. So, the taxpayers are responsible for paying for these improvements.

The island’s mounting infrastructure deficit needs to be addressed. However, the county has limited options, besides floating more bonds, to fix this problem. 11.3% of the Hawaii County budget is allocated for debt service, so the county’s debt will likely increase in the future as a result.

I bet the Conservative Forum for Hawaii never thought of the unintended consequences resulting from the rejection of this proposed legislation.

I strongly encourage all my loyal readers to express your frustration to the Conservative Forum for Hawaii whenever you are stuck in traffic or angry about the poor condition of our roadways.

Oceanic Time Warner Cable recently responded to the DCCA-CATV’s additional information requests concerning their open Hawaii County franchise renewal application.

The Hawaii PUC denied HECO’s Aina Koa Pono biofuel supply contract application on Thursday.

Related item: Hawaiian Electric disappointed by PUC’s biofuels ruling

The ongoing lawsuits involving the Hokuli’a project continue to proceed. I am absolutely
dumbfounded how much the discovery portion of this case may cost? The $800,000 to three million dollars cost is shockingly excessive.

Lastly, the restoration of the Kona Village Resort seems to be moving forward.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Technology, Hawaii Transportation

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 465 other followers