{"id":23,"date":"2022-02-24T20:58:37","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T20:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/?page_id=23"},"modified":"2026-01-27T10:21:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T20:21:43","slug":"strategic-framework","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/strategic-framework\/","title":{"rendered":"Broadband Strategic Framework"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"core-principles-for-investment-in-hawai-i-broadband\">Core Principles for Investment in Hawai\u2018i Broadband<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Despite the recognition that access to <strong>robust, reliable, and reasonably priced broadband service<\/strong> is a necessity, Hawai\u2018i had <strong>lacked strategic investment<\/strong> in middle mile structure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Public investment is needed to improve middle mile infrastructure and attract more internet providers to Hawaii, <strong>lowering costs and improving service<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"investment-pillars-of-the-strategic-framework\">Investment Pillars of the Strategic Framework<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"access-equity-and-literacy\"><em><strong>Access, Equity, and Literac<\/strong><\/em>y <em>(AEL)<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Federal support for <strong>universal internet access<\/strong> remains strong, with pandemic relief supporting <strong>device access, infrastructure, and affordability<\/strong> for low-income households. Funding channels include state\/county\/education programs and FCC\/USAC subsidies (EBB\/ACP, ECF, eRate). While digital literacy and readiness efforts require further scaling, community-based outreach is expanding, integrating established programs with grassroots initiatives. The Strategic Framework will directly fund and encourage this integration, aiming to broaden services and ensure all benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We aim to build sustainable community support for internet access beyond initial funding. This includes <strong>securing long-term financial support<\/strong> from public and philanthropic sources. Public libraries, community centers, and similar institutions are ideal partners. One-time funds will prioritize <strong>facility upgrades and strategic investments<\/strong> that lower long-term operating costs or subscriptions, ensuring sustainability. Identifying and addressing current and future unmet needs will also be crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-af6bdb36 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--1\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/strategic-framework\/access-equity-and-literacy\/\" style=\"background-color:#034368\">Learn More about AEL Projects<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"last-mile\"><strong><em>Last Mile<\/em><\/strong><em> (LM)<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another pillar with long-standing Federal support mechanisms focused on <strong>rural, high-cost, and unserved communities<\/strong>. These supports focus on building the edge, <strong>last mile connections<\/strong> into sparsely populated locations and deliver insufficient return on investment for carriers (with shareholders). Associated lifeline supports provided <strong>financial assistance to economically disadvantaged consumers<\/strong> to shore up the consumer revenue element of the equation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Universal broadband service has been at the roots of the ongoing discussion on the modernization of universal service supports. Until recently, the challenge of justifying the additional investment and ongoing price supports has been a high hurdle &#8211; including as discussed in the 2007 Hawai\u2018i Broadband Task Force (as context for its 2008 report). Those hurdles have been shattered by the pandemic by exposing the (now) critical need to make <strong>robust broadband service available to all<\/strong>. Significant funds are already available to help close the gap for most of Hawai\u2018i\u2019s unserved communities &#8211; our challenge is to include investment in the underserved areas, primarily located in well-connected geographic areas. These underserved communities predominantly suffer from <strong>aged last mile infrastructure and a lack of investment interest from carriers<\/strong> (with shareholders).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supported efforts will focus on strategic use of existing federal funds (Connect America, Rural Digital Opportunity Funds, Tribal Broadband Connectivity grants) and exploration of new solutions (wired\/wireless) to extend <strong>internet access to underserved communities<\/strong>. This includes partnering with carriers and public housing authorities, similar to our approach for <strong>access, opportunity, and literacy initiatives<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-cd76affd wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aligncenter is-style-outline is-style-outline--2\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/strategic-framework\/last-mile\/\" style=\"background-color:#034368\">Learn More about LM Projects<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"middle-mile\"><strong><em>Middle Mile<\/em><\/strong> <em>(MM)<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This pillar requires a paradigm-changing public investment, partnering with the private sector to make a long-term impact in the economics of broadband to ensure that Hawai\u2018i has robust, reliable, and reasonably priced broadband to secure its future. A handful of key assets in Hawai\u2018i\u2019s <strong>Middle Mile infrastructure<\/strong> suffer from under-investment and have constrained our collective ability to leverage the power of global broadband access fully; historically, that constraint has been <strong>limited supply and high cost<\/strong>; looking to the future, the constraint will be exacerbated by <strong>fragile infrastructure<\/strong>. Together, these aging assets create a <em>thin<\/em> and highly vulnerable keystone to Hawai\u2018i\u2019s successful future. These assets include,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Interisland submarine fiber optic cables &#8211; aged, aging, and brittle<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lack of readily accessible carrier-neutral submarine cable landing station(s)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Limited, high-cost terrestrial fiber networks interconnecting key Middle Mile assets<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supported efforts will focus on developing <strong>high-value, shared, carrier-neutral infrastructure<\/strong> to address the limitations of private investors constrained by required return on investment principles. This includes strategically placed landing stations for undersea cables, making it easier and cheaper for internet providers to connect to Hawaii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Public investment will focus on building high-capacity fiber optic cables connecting key locations like existing cable landing stations and data centers. This <strong>Middle Mile infrastructure<\/strong> will be designed for multiple users, including government facilities and universities, to improve internet access and reliability across Hawai\u2018i.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-7d812b4c wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aligncenter is-style-outline is-style-outline--3\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/strategic-framework\/middle-mile\/\" style=\"background-color:#034368\">Learn More about MM Projects<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"governance-and-sustainability\"><strong><em>Governance and Sustainability<\/em><\/strong><em> (GS)<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Any investments in Hawai\u2018i\u2019s broadband infrastructure and services should be crafted to <strong>maximize long-term, strategic public benefits<\/strong> and shall be governed with <strong>sustainability<\/strong> as a core design principle. Regardless of the source of funds, the design of governance efforts associated with broadband infrastructure investments should include representation from relevant stakeholders and tasked to ensure that Hawai\u2018i continuously benefits from these strategic investments. Especially where substantial public resources are utilized, governance bodies should include participants <strong>representing executive sponsors<\/strong> from public broadband infrastructure, carriers, DoD and other Federal operators, healthcare and finance sectors, and public policy interests. A vital function of the governance bodies is the <strong>convening and managing of interests by the infrastructure consumers<\/strong>, including coordinating the assessment of suitable fees to support required operations and maintenance (O&amp;M), administrative overhead, and future asset refresh cycles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-af6bdb36 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aligncenter is-style-outline is-style-outline--4\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/strategic-framework\/governance-and-sustainability\/\" style=\"background-color:#034368\">Learn More about GS Projects<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><sub>Last updated: June 20, 2022<\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Core Principles for Investment in Hawai\u2018i Broadband Investment Pillars of the Strategic Framework Access, Equity, and Literacy (AEL) Federal support for universal internet access remains strong, with pandemic relief supporting device access, infrastructure, and affordability for low-income households. Funding channels &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-onecolumn.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-23","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3013,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23\/revisions\/3013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/broadband\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}