Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Lahaina, Kona to
get Road Runner
’Net service

It will compete against
GTE Hawaiian Tel

By Tim Ruel
Star-Bulletin

Oceanic Cable plans to expand its Road Runner Internet service this year from Oahu to Lahaina and Kona, two markets already tapped for high-speed Internet connections by GTE Hawaiian Tel.

Oceanic plans to install the service in groups of 500 homes at a time, spokesman Kit Beuret said yesterday. He did not know exactly when service would start.

Road Runner uses cable modems, which hook personal computers up to the Internet through cable TV lines. GTE also has a high-speed Internet service, known as digital subscriber line or DSL, which works over existing phone lines, but doesn't tie up the computer user's phone. Both services operate at several times the speed of normal dial-up Internet service.

Oceanic's monthly service charge is $39.95, with no installation fee for now. Oceanic started its Road Runner on Oahu in 1999, and is expanding because sales have been strong, Beuret said. The company has more than 27,000 Road Runner subscribers, up 12.5 percent from 24,000 two months ago.

"We feel that the people on the neighbor islands are just as interested in high-speed Internet as people on Oahu are," Beuret said, noting Oceanic plans to tap other local markets later.

GTE Hawaiian Tel has been selling a similar service for nearly a year in Kona, Lahaina and other major local markets, said Scott Morgan, of GTE's market development group.

GTE spokesman Brian Blevins said the customer base in neighbor island markets is growing fast. "There's clearly a high demand for high-speed access there."

GTE's service costs from $32.50 for a home to $215 for a small branch office. It is not charging for installation for the next three months. Those who buy the service, however, must also pay for an Internet service provider to go online.

The company would not disclose how many DSL customers it has in Hawaii.