HONOLULU, June 2, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hawaiʻi's fastest Internet is about to get exponentially faster as Hawaiian Telcom (Nasdaq:HCOM) unleashes a 1 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) service beginning on June 8. Fiber 1 Gig offers double the speed of Hawaiʻi's fastest Internet today, Hawaiian Telcom's 500 megabits-per-second (Mbps) speed.
"Innovations like this prove that we have transformed ourselves from being just the phone company to Hawaiʻi's technology leader," said Eric K. Yeaman, Hawaiian Telcom's president and CEO. "We are proud to be the only local company investing millions to expand our next generation broadband infrastructure, enabling speeds that are not only the fastest in Hawaiʻi but among the fastest in the nation."
Over the past six years, Hawaiian Telcom has poured almost half a billion dollars into its next generation fiber network and systems, and will invest close to $100 million this year alone.
Hawaiian Telcom's Fiber 1 Gig service, which is equal to 1,000 Mbps, will be available to consumers with Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) technology statewide. About 96,000 locations will initially qualify for Fiber 1 Gig with more being added as Hawaiian Telcom's expansive deployment of fiber optic technology continues.
"Hawai'i is our home and only focus, so we take seriously our responsibility as Hawai'i's technology leader -- to expand the superhighway that delivers the next generation services our customers want today and future services that have yet to be conceived," added Yeaman.
As the number of bandwidth-hungry smart devices in the home and office environment continues to increase, Fiber 1 Gig provides more than enough capacity and speed to support multiple devices simultaneously without sacrificing quality. Hawaiian Telcom customers will be able to download and stream high-definition video content, work, shop and play games online instantly and seamlessly – all from the same shared connection. People who utilize cloud-based services will also see significant speed increases when transferring large or multiple files into or from the cloud.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an international think tank, predicts that as the Internet of Things (IoT) trend, which refers to the expansion of objects and devices embedded with internet connectivity, continues to grow, the average household with two teenage children will own 50 Internet-connected devices by 2022, up from 10 today.
AT&T, CenturyLink, Consolidated Communications and Google are among a handful of national providers currently offering a 1Gig service limited to major metropolitan cities across the country.
For more information on Fiber 1 Gig or other Hawaiian Telcom services, please visit hawaiiantel.com or call (808) 643-3456.
About Hawaiian Telcom
Hawaiian Telcom (Nasdaq:HCOM), headquartered in Honolulu, is Hawai'i's technology leader, providing integrated communications, broadband, data center and entertainment solutions for business and residential customers. With roots in Hawai'i beginning in 1883, the Company offers a full range of services including Internet, video, voice, wireless, data network solutions and security, colocation, and managed and cloud services supported by the reach and reliability of its next generation fiber network and a 24/7 state-of-the-art network operations center. With employees statewide sharing a commitment to innovation and a passion for delivering superior service, Hawaiian Telcom provides an Always OnSM customer experience. For more information, visit www.hawaiiantel.com.
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