Sandwich Isles Communications was recently highlighted in an FCC report as one of the carriers that received an unusually large amount of funding from the Universal Service program, measured on a per-line basis at more than $10,000 per line for 2009. In a video interview with ViodiTV this week, Sandwich Isles executive Al Pedersen explains why the company’s costs are so high.
Writes ViodiView:
In this interview, [Pedersen] discusses some of the construction challenges Sandwich Isles Communcations faced, such as boring through lava, as well as unique permitting requirements and costs imposed by their distance from the mainland. Their creation of an undersea/land fiber optic network, which Pedersen describes as open access, stands to benefit all Hawaiians.
Connected Planet’s take,
Joan Engebretson:
Today’s Universal Service Fund program has come under attack from people who question why we’re spending so much money to help support voice service. But as we have previously noted, few USF recipients operate voice-only networks, and Sandwich Isles is no exception. As this interview shows, the company’s network can also support data services.
What is a bigger concern than Sandwich Isles’ high costs is the fact that Sprint Nextel receives USF support at virtually the same level (measured on a per-line basis) for serving customers in Sandwich Isles’ territory, even though its network probably isn’t so costly to operate.
That’s our take on this. Let us know what you think in the comments section below: