(BIVN) – A University of Hawaiʻi proposal to install a subsea fiber optic cable system connecting the six main Hawaiian Islands is detailed in a new draft environmental assessment. 

The University says the undersea cable will improve and expand high-speed internet access in Hawaiʻi, and will leverage federal investment in technological infrastructure. The project will “address a key component of the state’s Connect Kākou broadband initiative to ensure reliable and affordable access to high-speed internet to support business, education, healthcare, and other needs for Hawaiʻi’s residents,” documents say.

According to The Environmental Notice published on February 8th:

The Project involves construction, operation, and maintenance of a subsea fiber optic cable with cable landing sites strategically located on Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokai, Lānaʻi, Maui, and Hawaiʻi Island. The subsea cable, which would have a maximum diameter of 1.1 inches, would be surface laid on the seabed within state and U.S. federal waters to interconnect the islands. For all six islands, horizontal directional drilling (HDD) would be used to install underground conduit between the onshore cable landing site and an associated offshore punchout point, thus allowing the subsea cable to make landfall by traversing beneath the shoreline. The terrestrial components at each cable landing site would include a beach manhole, underground conduit for terrestrial fiber optic cable, and a cable landing station with associated cable termination and monitoring equipment.

There is one cable landing site on Hawaiʻi island described in the 1,587-page document. The location is in the Keaukaha-area of Hilo, and will connect to the University of Hawaiʻi-Hilo campus off Lanikāula Street. From the draft EA:

The cable landfall site on Hawaiʻi Island is located at Pacific Aquaculture & Coastal Resource Center(PACRC), just east of the Hilo Harbor breakwater on the east side of the island. PACRC, which is affiliated with UH Hilo, is a research and education facility focused on aquaculture and resource management. Adjacent land uses include a county wastewater pump station to the east (with associated pipelines extending offshore), Keaukaha Beach Park further to the east and extending north along the shoreline past PACRC, the DHHL Keaukaha homestead residential tract to the south (across Kalanianaʻole Avenue), and Hilo Harbor to the west. UH Hilo is located approximately 3 miles southwest of PACRC; it is surrounded by a variety of residential neighborhoods, government facilities, and other civic structures.

map from Hawaiian Islands Fiber Link (HIFL) Project – Draft EA

The landfall would include a single HDD conduit, extending approximately 1,185 feet from a BMH to the offshore punchout point at a water depth of approximately 61 feet. Given the presence of wastewater utility infrastructure in the immediate vicinity of the cable landfall, the HDD conduit has been specifically sited to facilitate crossing and avoid impacts to the buried wastewater pipes. The BMH would be located in an undeveloped portion of the PACRC site, approximately 344 feet from the nearest point on the shoreline. From the BMH, the terrestrial cable would be installed in underground conduit to a manhole installed adjacent to a nearby utility pole. From this point, the Project would utilize fiber owned by a licensed utility as part of the existing utility network, including the overhead system along state and county roadways as well as underground conduit extending into the UH Hilo campus. The CLS for this site would be a new modular structure with an adjacent emergency generator constructed on the northern side of the UH Hilo campus near Lanikāula Street. Underground conduit would be installed between the CLS and an adjacent building on the UH Hilo campus to connect the Project with the existing telecommunication and utility network.

The University says it has “engaged Ocean Networks Inc. (ONI) to address the supply, construction, operations, and maintenance aspects of the Project, including the environmental review and permitting requirements,” the draft EA states. “It is anticipated that the State of Hawaiʻi and ONI will form a public-private partnership, with the HIFL system owned and operated by the resulting entity (HIFL LLC).”

The draft EA says the project was discussed at a DHHL beneficiary meeting at Keaukaha Elementary School on July 8, 2025.

The statutory 30-day public review and comment period is now underway. Comments are due by March 10, 2026.