February - March 2008
telecom options
Editor’s
note: So the salesman has just been by promising to wire up your entire
building for free in order to offer your tenants and owners free telecom
service. It’s a nasty, ultra-competitive game out there, and you
make the mistake of calling around. What a mess. Options galore. What
to do? Fear not, our trusty writers have been busy at work.
Skywave, WiFi Internet and More
Skywave claims to be the fastest growing network of WiFi (802.11) hotspots
in the state, providing high-speed WiFi wireless internet access solutions
to small, single location partners and multi-campus institutions and high-rises.
High-rises, get that?
They recently announced a deal with Hawaiian Telcom to provide service
to all of Hawaiian Telcom’s high speed internet subscribers. All
they need is their HawTel email and password.
I suppose, in some circles, that’s called a home run. Maybe more.
Something like a championship title.
What this means is that all 92,800 of HawTel’s broadband customers get access through 100 of Skywave’s hotspots.
Skywave
generally does not go to buildings to solicit service. If you have a big
lobby, a park, food court or other comfy public area which might be condusive
to surfing the net with a laptop, you might consider going to them to
create a hotspot for your location.
In fact, this is an area in which the company is aggressively expanding, as it is looking to add new hotspot locations in lobbies or waiting rooms throughout the State.
‘We have worked with some condos like the Mt Terrace in Hawaii Kai and the Waikiki Grand Hotel, as well as the Pacific Davies Center in downtown to provide WiFi in common areas and we have done some wired solutions in buildings. We have the technical capability but generally we are very selective in providing wired solutions,” says Joshua Beil, who co-founded Skywave in 2003 with partner Matthew Ganote. Some of Skywave’s many hotspots include all Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Hawaii locations, Kailua Town through a relationship with Kaneohe Ranch, the Davies Pacific Center, and the downtown business district including Restaurant Row and Aloha Tower.
If you look at their website, a map shows hotspots covering nearly all the main Honolulu corridor from Waikiki to Chinatown as well as Hawaii Kai, Kailua and a growing number of outer island locations.
There are two unique benefits to becoming a Skywave hotspot location.
First is that all of Skywave’s locations are integrated, such that
a Skywave account will work at all of their hotspots.
Second, Skywave can customize the look, content, and advertising of the
‘splash page,’ the first page you arrive at when trying to
surf the Internet where you have to create an account or login with an
existing account for any given location or groups of locations. Skywave
also provides wireless T-1 replacement services as well as in-building
broadband solutions for its clients.
Another WiFi: ShakaNet
ShakaNet deals in hotspots for hotels, airports and cafés. Condos are next.
But if you live in Waikiki, you know them because, out of the goodness of their hearts, they are building a FREE wireless network paid for by advertisers!
That’s my kind of cost.
‘We
also feel that it is a great way to give something back to the community
and city that we love,’ says Nam Vu, vice president and chief technology
officer. ‘We do not get funding from any governmental agency. Ultimately,
our goal is to cover all of Waikiki with FREE Internet access.’
Woo is about half way through.
When done, they want to reach from Kapahulu through McCully. No trick
questions. No sneaky sales pitches. Free.
If you’re outside that corridor, ShakaNet can either service you
by WiFi from the buildings near you or they can come in and install routers
in your buildings.
For a condo, the cost to a subscriber could go down to $4-7 per unit per month.
Not bad.
They plan to start pushing into the condo market this year. The company was founded in 2002.
Vu figures they are at about four-times the subscribers for the Skywave-HawTel combo now. They serve more users per month with WiFi than any other company in Hawaii.
The company’s specialty is internet kiosks and automated business centers, not just hotspots per se.
They dominate the airport market. They are at Honolulu International and just announced coverage for Kahului Airport.
For $6.95 per two hours, a user can log on to any of 27 kiosks at Kahului
and log on. Or use ShakaNet’s WiFi at any gate area.
ShakaNet has 40 locations on four islands like that.
Some of their locations include ResortQuest Waikiki Beach Hotel, Outrigger Luana Waikiki, Ala Moana Hotel, Kauai Marriot and the Arizona BEQ at Pearl Harbor.
If you’re a business wanting to attract customers, or a manager wanting more customers for your tenants, ShakaNet may pay you for your efforts.
What’s wireless but not WiFi?
It’s Clearwire.
It’s not WiFi. You don’t have to be in a WiFi hotspot. You don’t have to drive around looking for a high spot. You don’t have to drive to the library and park outside with your laptop. Cheap as you are.
You can pay for a special wireless signal just for you.
Clearwire is pre-WiMAX, the next generation after WiFi. WiMAX is not really here yet, so Clearwire is called pre-WiMAX.
Clever, huh?
Basically,
Clearwire goes into a town and starts putting up cellphone like towers
and turns the town into one giant hotspot.
Plus, the wireless signal is not a public accessed frequency but in a private leased channel so that if you don’t have the proprietary modem, you can’t even see the signal. And you don’t have to worry about hacker stealing personal information.
The modem is about the size of a steno pad.
Clearwire lets you connect at broadband speeds of up to 2.0Mbps. That’s
up to 25 times faster than typical dial-up!
What does this mean if you’re trying to download a 3.75MB video
clip?
28.8Kbps dial-up modem:
17 minutes, 47 seconds
56Kbps dial-up modem:
9 minutes, 9 seconds
Clearwire’s 1.5Mbps:
20 seconds!
‘Clearwire is a third alternative to Cable (Roadrunner) and DSL (Hawaiian Telcom),’ says Brittany Ridley, a Clearwire spokesperson.
‘It is true broadband, and it is as secure as cable and DSL, and it does operate on an FCC protected spectrum.’
Clearwire also has an internet phone service.
If you’re in a building, forget about any special wiring.
Clearwire wireless technology uses OFDM transmission protocol, featuring a design standard that includes secure wireless data transmission.
Wi-Fi operates on unlicensed 2.4GHz frequencies, making it vulnerable to scanning and packet interception. Clearwire operates at licensed 2.5GHz frequencies. Licensed frequencies and OFDM make for a very secure connection.
And if you want, you can take your modem with you to anywhere with electricity, to a special meeting, and plug right in. If you’re a gamer, you can take it to school. Don’t tell the principal I said that.
What’s not necessarily wireless but still competes
It’s called Pacific LightNet.
Where do they come up with these high tech names?
It’s really Hawaii’s only other telephone company compared to Hawaiian Telcom.
It has wires. It has switches. It has telephones and internet. It has long distance and local. It has wireless.
It goes back to GST Hawaii, which was the first company after the 1996 Telecommunications Act to provide local telephone exchange service in competition with then GTE Hawaiian Tel.
It’s like a little HawaiianTel.
Since then, Pacific LightNet has been busy. It’s been the first at several things.
First and only company to physically link the six major Hawaiian islands… via a 10,000 fiber-mile submarine and terrestrial network. Not even Hawaiian Telecom has this. In real miles it’s about 300 miles inter-island and 150 miles on Oahu. The Oahu cables go to a bunch of downtown buildings and serve 70,000 customers.
First company to offer broadband digital phone service:
808NetFone. You do need an internet connection. You can keep your existing phone number, and cable or DSL will work. You can get a flat rate local or long distance plan.
And
now… First company to provide a second option for one-stop phone
service shopping to Hawaii businesses from five telephones to five hundred:
Pacific LightNet Hosted PBX service. This means you get all the benefits
of having your own personal PBX in your office, but the equipment is not
at your office.
Pacific LightNet specializes in businesses.
It likes developers to wire in fiber connectivity into their buildings. If a fiber cabled building hooks directly into Pacific LightNet’s system, it means speeds up to 100M or greater, more than twice the capacity of copper wires, says its president, Pat Bustamante.
Pacific LightNet also has wireless.
It can create a system point to point directly to your office with speeds up to 200Mbps. I think that’s very fast.
You can connect this signal to your office network or to a network across town.
What if you’re just a common, simple, plain old homeowner, maybe living in a condo.
You use 808NetFone. The local only package is $12.95. Of course, that’s assuming you already have broadband, probably from someone like Oceanic or Clear Wire. Because what will Hawaiian Telcom tell you if you sign up for internet phone and tell them to cancel the phone but keep the DSL?
Of course, you could use Pacific LightNet’s wireless broadband called Hawaii On-Line. Problem is, right now, it only serves the Big Island Kona coast.
Over the past six years, Pacific LightNet has grown from 35 employees to almost 100. The company is privately owned and does not report sales figures.
Any problems for this wonderful sounding company?
No cell phone.
No TV.
PS: The answer is yes, says Ann Nishida of Hawaiian Telecom. ‘But first, we have to ensure that the customer is fully aware of the value and benefits of our reliable landline service, and the savings that can be realized if they purchase a bundle of services. As many people learned during last October’s earthquake, Hawaiian Telcom landline service worked in spite of a day-long power outage. The landline is a reliable communication service that’s there when you need it – it’s not dependent on commercial power or battery life — and we want to ensure our customers understand this so they can make the right choices for themselves and their families. When combined with our High-Speed Internet of 3, 7 and 11 Mbps speeds, unlimited long distance or wireless service, Hawaiian Telcom customers truly can have it all and save money.’
What’s Wireless and Wires?
Cadmus Telecom is a young, local company that started with wireless internet and got involved in bulk TV doing three Outriggers and the Royal Garden Hotel.
In 2008, they plan to turn their sights on the huge Hawaii condo market.
Caesar
Paet, Cadmus president, hopes that an internet/TV package will go for
less than $40 a month.
The Cadmus concept is to send internet and TV wireless to a building, then use the existing building wires for distribution to each unit.
Cadmus will be able to use the existing telephone, cable or electric lines.
Cadmus plans on using a few satellite dishes to receive bulk TV.
In the past, he says, satellite television providers Dish and Direct TV required the installation of a satellite dish for each unit on property, something that in most buildings is not easily accomplished.
Cadmus will use two to three relatively small satellite dishes strategically installed on the rooftop or grounds of the high rise building along with modulators, amplifiers and other equipment that fits in most telephone or electrical rooms.
Paet
feels Cadmus will have a superior television signal because it’s
digital. It will have more high definition programming, more digital programming
and more channels.
‘We will also have the NFL network, which cable doesn’t offer.
When football is at its peak this is key selling point.’
On the internet front, Cadmus partners with Hurricane Internet, a Honolulu company, to provide leading edge solutions.
Cadmus also partners with Guest Tek and Bulk TV for access to programming.
Cadmus is installed at the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach, Outrigger
Reef, Ohana East, and the Royal Garden Hotel.
It is also installed at PearlRidge Square.
