Illustration by Kevin Hand, Star-Bulletin

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Headed for the future

High-tech gadgets will soon change
how isle residents communicate

By Rob Perez
Star-Bulletin

You ain't seen nothin' yet.

By the turn of the century - only four years away - improved technology and the rapidly changing telecommunications market will dramatically redefine the way Hawaii residents use computers, telephones and televisions, industry executives say.

From their perspective, here's a hint of what the future will look like:

• Video conferencing and telecommuting will become commonplace. People will use their computers, telephones and televisions - probably all interconnected - to participate in meetings at distant locations. More residents will live on the neighbor islands but work for Oahu employers, doing their commuting electronically.
  
  
• People will be accessible no matter where they go. Even as they travel from place to place, their phone numbers will remain the same. And their personal communication devices will allow them to not only make and receive phone calls on the run but check e-mail, receive video messages and conduct other personal business.
  
  
• Internet use will explode, even more so than today. With the prevalence of laptop computers, portable modem cards and cellular phones, people won't be confined to surfing the 'Net - checking a stock price, researching a topic or reading this newspaper - from their home or business. Any place potentially will be on-line.
  
  
• Medical data and images will be transmitted via high-speed phone lines, reducing the need for patients to go to physician offices.
  
  
• Residents will use their home communication systems - TV, computer and phone - to shop for favorite products, check bank statements, order movies or news on demand and handle many other business and entertainment transactions. The services will be tailored to their personal interests.

But the market dynamics should give rise to many new applications, some not even conceived yet, the executives say. Competition will be so keen that companies constantly will be striving to improve their service, hoping to stand out in the market.

"I think everyone is going to be looking for ways to provide it cheaper, faster or better," said Kathleen Hishinuma, Hawaii president for GTE Mobilnet.

"It's a brave new world out there," added Steve Barnes, president of Sperry Communications on the Big Island. "Consumers are in for a wild ride."

Hawaii companies already have started preparing for the brave new world.

GTE Hawaiian Tel has spent more than $900 million over the past five years to upgrade its phone system, getting ready for the onslaught of competition.

Oceanic's control room. Photo by Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin

Many other companies are pursuing wire-based and wireless strategies, hoping to capitalize on Hawaii's changing market, which in some respects is at the cutting edge nationally.

Some critics even question whether the state is moving too fast, embracing the technology without adequately considering potential drawbacks.

Hawaii is so accepting because many people tend to be high-tech oriented with good disposable incomes, industry officials say.

That's one reason Oahu has the highest percentage of cellular phone users in the nation; one reason Oahu spends more per capita via home-shopping networks than any other market in the country.

"We are quick to accept technology mainly because there is that strong need to use technology to make life simpler and more efficient," said Eric Tom, general manager of Long Distance/USA-Sprint. "People here want it faster, demand it faster, buy it faster."