Question: We have had no land-line service on our Hawaiian Tel phone since Dec. 26. Our DSL Internet from Hawaiian Tel is hit or miss also. This outage is affecting others in my condo building, including my 82-year-old neighbor who has no other means of communication (no Internet, no cellphone). In my numerous lengthy calls to Hawaiian Tel Customer Service (on hold almost an hour each time), I have been told that the outage affects “many lines” and that “they are working on it.” I can get no specific information other than this. There are multiple outages in my condo building alone, including our elevator emergency line. … I wonder if you can help? This would not just be for me, but for others experiencing the same apparent lack of urgency on the part of Hawaiian Tel.
Answer: Hawaiian Telcom reports that you and the other seven affected customers in your Makiki building had telephone and Internet service fully restored by Jan. 28. That was three days after Kokua Line contacted the company on your behalf, supplying your name, address and phone number, as you had agreed. You were quick to give Kokua Line some credit for the response, but Ann Nishida Fry, a spokeswoman for Hawaiian Telcom, says that ongoing repair work had been set to wrap up that week.
Besides responding to the situation in your building, Fry also gave an update on other problems caused by record rainfall last year. Here is her full statement:
“Service to the Nehoa Street condo was restored on Jan. 28. It had affected eight customers, of which two accepted our offer of free loaner cellphones as a temporary solution.
“Hawaiian Telcom is committed to minimizing service disruptions. We understand that people rely on our services so a disruption of any length is unacceptable. To assist our customers, we have offered temporary solutions including free call forwarding to an alternate number and free loaner cellphones to those who do not have an alternate number.
“Hawaiian Telcom has invested half a billion dollars in upgrading our network and systems statewide over the past six years. One of the main drivers behind our aggressive fiber expansion is to prevent extended disruptions as fiber is less susceptible to weather conditions. Our goal is to move more customers to our fiber-based services, which offer numerous benefits, including enhanced reliability for our land-line customers and advanced services like TV and high bandwidth high-speed Internet for those who are interested.
“As reported, our facilities were impacted by the intense, record-breaking rains late last year that caused an unprecedented number of service disruptions. The majority of repair work is a two-part process: replacing sections of underground cables and then splicing individual wires. Depending on the location, replacing cable may require obtaining permits, closing roads or working only during certain hours due to state and county rules. The second half often takes place in cramped manholes, allowing only one or two technicians to painstakingly splice thousands of individual wires. In addition, this work cannot be done when it’s raining to prevent causing additional damage. Combined with the high volume of issues at the same time, these factors make it difficult to provide firm dates for restoration.
“Hawaiian Telcom technicians have worked overtime for months to restore service to our customers after the historic downpours last year. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in November 2015 nearly all rain gauges on Oahu recorded their highest rainfall in almost 20 years.
“Customers who reported issues in October have had their service restored. A cable outage with multiple sections of trouble impacted a handful of customers that had to be individually addressed. Service was restored to this handful of customers by Jan. 30.
“In situations where there are multiple issues impacting a customer’s service, it takes more time to individually investigate and repair. Other external causes of service disruptions include customer’s wiring and equipment issues, power surges and vehicle accidents that damage cables or equipment.
“We value every customer and strive to provide a positive customer experience.”
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
