When the going gets tough, the tough get going. That’s especially true when trying to get ahead of stormy weather and securing more reliable broadband connectivity. Hawaii’s recent severe weather conditions, from the Kona-low storms in April to the more recent series of tropical storms and hurricane watch alerts, have left many in our islands feeling the need to become more digitally resilient.
During these times of super-charged El Nino weather, many are asking the right question: What is the most reliable form of digital connectivity?
There are currently three major systems: satellite internet service, traditional cable system and a fiber-optic network. Here’s a brief overview of each one based on their physical capabilities and what users can expect:
Satellite internet
The first is satellite internet service, which is provided through Low Earth Orbit satellites. There is an estimated 16,000 of these satellites circling the Earth about 1,200 miles from our planet’s surface. The majority of these satellites — about 11,000 — are owned and operated by Starlink, which is part of Space X, one of Elon Musk’s companies. For reference, commercial airlines typically fly at an altitude of between 30,000 to 42,000 feet.
Altogether, these satellites form “constellations,” much like a cluster of stars in the universe. When we send an email message through Starlink, it goes to a nearest satellite hovering above us at the time, and our message is then transmitted to other satellites before it reaches its final destination back on Earth. Since information bounces from one satellite to another, this naturally affects speed and latency (the delay in receiving data). Satellite internet service speeds are diminished further as more users from a geographical community start using the internet service.
While satellite internet service seems like the most resilient and may seem ideal for remote rural communities for its nonreliance on earth-related infrastructure issues, there are some limitations. Like solar energy panels, it does not work as well on cloudy, overcast days, so its reliability and consistency are dependent on the weather. Upload speeds (the time it takes to transmit data) also takes longer because of the travel time to multiple satellites.
Traditional cable
Cable internet service relies on coaxial cables, and this results in upload speeds that are generally faster than download speeds. There are also be latency challenges. The delay in transmission times may not be ideal for engaging with AI tools, ongoing gaming, stock trading or other online tasks that require instant responses.
As technology continues to evolve and internet speeds and latency become even more critical for users, cable internet service will eventually need to keep pace with these changes with infrastructure upgrades.
Fiber internet
Data transmitted though fiber optic cables for internet, phone and TV service moves at the speed of light through hairlike glass strands, resulting in ultrafast upload and download speeds with very low latency. It is also proving to be the most weather resistant, capable of providing ongoing service or faster restoration of service during severe weather conditions. Many recognize that fiber is rapidly replacing traditional copper wire cable networks, which will no longer be used or serviced, and are making the move now to prepare for that eventual shift.
In the past, installing communications infrastructure in remote geographical areas with a relatively small number of customers was not economical for companies, but this is also changing because of Hawaii’s recent appropriation of nearly $150 million in federal funds from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in the U.S. Department of Commerce, earmarked to subsidize expanded access to these isolated communities.
Finally, fiber is “future proof,” which means that as new technology and applications emerge that require even more bandwidth and speed, there will not be a need to start all over again with a new way of providing connectivity — the current fiber network has a 50-year lifespan that can be easily scaled to accommodate the inevitable changes.
Chris Raker is Hawaiian Telcom’s director of consumer sales. He can be reached at chris.raker@hawaiiantel.com.
