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New Hawaii cell
phone company selects
Honolulu data center

Mobi PCS, owner of the last bit of cell phone spectrum available on Oahu, will route its planned new Hawaii phone service through a Honolulu data center operated by California-based Equinix Inc.

Mobi PCS plans to introduce no-contract, no-credit-check, unlimited local and long-distance wireless calling plans for under $50 a month early next year in Hawaii.

Equinix's Honolulu Internet Business Exchange center, in the airport area, provides redundant power, air conditioning and other systems required to ensure uninterrupted operation for Internet and telecommunications customers.

The security of the Equinix facility "protects our switching center and the brains of our network," said Bill Jarvis, president and chief executive of Mobi PCS. The company, formerly Coral Wireless, is a Delaware corporation based in Honolulu.

In the aftermath of recent hurricanes, it seemed logical to ask if the center's security would allow Mobi customers to use their phones in a disaster.

"I think what it does is, it improves your defense and your odds if bad things occur should a natural disaster strike or, heaven forbid, terrorism.

"The fact of the matter is, you can never be 100 percent certain or 100 percent safe, but ... this is a very good choice to improve our odds," Jarvis said.

Mobi has other calling plans in the works.

"Everything we do is geared toward driving down costs and passing the savings on to our customers," which is why the company placed its switching equipment in the Equinix center, as opposed to building its own at much higher cost, he said.

On the Net: www.mobipcs.com

Anchors shifting at KHNL

KHNL's morning news will sport two new anchors on Monday when News 8 veteran Marvin Buenconsejo and former KGMB-TV anchor and reporter Angela Keen take to the set together for the first time.

They replace co-anchors Lyle Galdeira and Joann Shin, who will return to full-time reporting. Galdeira and Shin will get to set their alarm clocks for much later than 3 a.m., which Galdeira had wanted since at least July, as reported in this space yesterday.

Galdeira will resign later this year when his contract expires in December, said John Fink, vice president and general manager of KHNL and sister station KFVE-TV.

Keen was an anchor and reporter specializing in health reporting before she left KGMB earlier this month.

Buenconsejo was KHNL's assistant news director serving under News Director Sue Levine, and he wanted to jump back into the reporting pool, Fink said.