Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Friday, March 14, 1997
Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Friday, March 14, 1997
The state Public Utilities Commission has ordered GTE Hawaiian Tel to provide phone lines for a competitor's pay phones as soon as practical. PUC to HawTel: Hook up
pay-phone competitorStarnet Hawaii Inc. had complained to the commission that Hawaiian Tel was refusing to honor agreements Starnet made before March 1, 1996, with customers pegged to get Starnet phones. Starnet on March 1 received its authority to provide pay-phone service.
The commission ruled yesterday that Hawaiian Tel was being unreasonable in not honoring the agreements and ordered the company to do so.
It also ordered Starnet and GCI Hawaii Inc., another company authorized to provide service, to provide written justification for the 25 cents-per-10-minutes charge they are proposing for their phones.
Hawaiian Tel currently is the only pay-phone provider in the state, but the commission recently approved the entrance of other competitors, though none have actually started service.
PrimeCo Hawaii today began offering what it called one of the lowest wireless phone rates in the industry: the equivalent of 9 cents a minute. PrimeCo Hawaii offers
discounted wireless rateIf a customer signs up by April 20, PrimeCo said it is offering through the end of the year 500 minutes each month for $45 -- or 9 cents a minute.
For $5 more, customers can get an extra 500 minutes for weekend calls, the company said. The combination would equate to 5 cents a minute.
The company hasn't determined what the rate would be after Dec. 31, a spokesman said.
CB Bancshares Inc. reported a 146 percent rise in fourth quarter 1996 earnings, reflecting increased interest income. City Bank's parent sees
big jump in earningsThe Honolulu-based parent of City Bank today said it earned $3.13 million, or 88 cents a share, for the three months ending Dec. 31, compared with $1.27 million, or 36 cents, in the 1995 quarter.
For the year, CB Bancshares' income slipped 11.9 percent to $7.06 million, or $1.99 a share, from 1995's $8.01 million, or $2.26 a share. The lower annual income was due largely to a one-time charge of $3.16 million for CB's voluntary retirement plan.
For the quarter, the company said its net interest income rose to $14.36 million, from fourth quarter 1995's $12.83 million.
