HECO running
Internet-access
trial in Pearl City
About 100 Pearl City-area homes will receive free high-speed Internet access as part of expanded broadband-over-power line testing by Hawaiian Electric Co.
Just who those customers are and the area in which they live is being determined by the utility, which is exploring the service, known as BPL. HECO sees the project as a way to more efficiently manage operations -- for example, allowing it to remotely monitor its network, as well as control consumer devices, such as water heaters, that are connected to the network.
The layout and network mapping should be done by the first of the year.
"Once we've got the layout, we go, in essence, and recruit people to participate in the market trial," said Karl Stahlkopf, HECO senior vice president for energy solutions and chief technology officer.
"We've kind of divvied up what we're doing mentally, thinking about it in terms of on-the-grid and on-the-premises," he said.
On-the-grid is HECO's in-house monitoring of substations and outage detection, while on-the-premises refers to control of what goes on in consumers' homes. "What we call demand-side management and load control by cycling (on and off) water heaters and air-conditioning switches," Stahlkopf said.
Residents who grant HECO permission for on-the-premises services will receive a monthly $3 discount on electric bills.
HECO customers in the expanded test area will receive free high-speed Internet connections and Internet-based telephone service, technology already in use at earlier test homes. HECO cannot bill for the services during the market test. The broadband service also allows for video-on-demand.
The trial will last a year to 18 months.
"We're taking this year to populate our business model and to understand what values we're creating for the utility and what values we're creating for the customer," Stahlkopf said.
Stahlkopf has said HECO would not necessarily become a telephone or television service provider. The company has demonstrated the Net capabilities to others, such as military officials, Verizon and Oceanic Time Warner Cable, with an eye toward future partnerships.
