Hawai'i finalizes $34M BEAD contract with Hawaiian Telcom for fiber deployment
The Office of the Governor and University of Hawai'i announced Hawai'i has finalized a $34 million BEAD contract with Hawaiian Telcom to deliver fiber-optic service to about 5,800 unserved homes. This is part of a broader $149.5 million BEAD deployment targeting roughly 7,000 unserved and underserved locations statewide, with about 82% to be served via fiber.
Providers named: Hawaiian Telcom
Award amount: $34.0M
What this means for BEAD compliance
Hawaiian Telcom as the newly contracted BEAD subgrantee, plus the State of Hawaii (Office of the Governor and University of Hawai'i as BEAD administering entity) overseeing the deployment.
Execution of this $34M contract moves Hawaiian Telcom into the active_deployment phase, activating construction, procurement, financial, environmental, and network performance obligations under the BEAD program. Clocks now start for permit acquisition, contractor oversight, procurement documentation, and environmental/NEPA screening for sub-projects before construction begins in unserved areas. Hawaiian Telcom must also begin expenditure tracking and non-federal cost-share documentation, and will be subject to ongoing performance requirements (speed, latency, availability) once locations are passed and service is delivered. Failure to establish these compliance systems now creates downstream audit and clawback risk.
Analysis by BeadComply Compliance Intelligence, grounded in the BEAD requirements registry.
Won a BEAD award in Hawaii? See Hawaii's program status and compliance requirements →
Related news
IndianaIndiana signs BEAD contracts to deploy $400 million in statewide broadbandPennsylvaniaPennsylvania awards first $448M in BEAD funding to projects in 50 countiesPennsylvaniaPennsylvania awards first $448 million in BEAD funding across 50 countiesPennsylvaniaPennsylvania announces $448 million in BEAD funding awards across 50 countiesGet BEAD news like this in your inbox