Page 13 - MidWeek - Feb 10, 2021

FEBRUARY 10, 2021 MIDWEEK 1320
Hawaiian Telcom’s top executive Su Shin is moving as fast as she can to meet the growing demand for broadband service across the state.
he story of Su Shin is about speed, or more specifically, the fast-moving fiber network
single home and we don’t have fi- ber to every single business in the state today ...”
broad range of communication and technology services, including phone, internet and TV options — is more than capable of expanding its broadband reach. Just in the past decade alone, the company has in- vested more than $500 million to grow its fiber network in Hawai‘i, all while deploying broadband service across 178,000 locations, which include 10,000 homes and businesses in rural areas.
plans to increase fiber broadband service to both unserved and un- derserved areas across the state.
“I didn’t envision this,” admits Hawaiian Telcom’s first female president in its 138-year history. “For me, my career path has been one of being at the right place at the right time.”
that seems to be on her mind a lot these days.
But it’s coming. Patience is key, she notes, particularly at a time when so many people have become stay-at-home workers or students and might be wondering why it’s taking the fiber infrastructure so long to be fully built.
All of which is good news for Hawai‘i’s speed-conscious con- sumers.
That’s what happens when you assume the helm of a local tele- communications company and the indispensable need for broadband speed is everywhere — in homes, in businesses, in schools, in cars.
“I think what happens often in this day and age with our cell phones and our Wi-Fi access, is that (broadband connectivity) al- most feels magical,” Shin explains. “But it isn’t magical; there’s a ton of work, a ton of planning, a ton of effort that goes into us being able to expand that fiber network.
“The immediate challenge ahead for us is how we can move more quickly to deploy fiber to more communities, to more residenc- es, to more businesses,” explains Shin. “I’d say it’s both our biggest challenge and our biggest oppor- tunity. We have to be able to get to a place where more folks have access to high-speed internet and broadband.”
While there’s an element of good fortune to her story, it’s also true that Shin brought her own set of qualifications to the job. Beyond her ability to effectively communi- cate with others, she’s also bless- ed with innate qualities that have served her well during her speedy ascent to the top of the telecom- munications landscape. Those traits include the inquisitive and determined sides of her personali- ty that first drove her to become a broadcast journalist in the 1990s.
Not that Shin would ever com- plain about the dizzying demand for ubiquitous service. Exactly one year after being named president and general manager of Hawaiian Telcom, she still intends to have fiber — which transmits digital in- formation almost as quickly as the speed of light — be accessible to all.
“So, it’ll happen ... I just wish it could happen way faster.”
Last October, for example, the company put the finishing touch- es on its fiber expansion project on Moloka‘i, where hundreds of homesteaders in Kualapu‘u and ‘Ualapu‘e were finally able to en- joy the benefits of digital connec- tivity. And buoyed by last week’s announcement of a $24 million award from the Federal Communi- cations Commission, the company
hin’s rapid rise to prominent business leader in the com- munity can best be described
“We’re constantly planning, en- gineering and building fiber,” says Shin. “We don’t have fiber to every
Thankfully, Hawaiian Telcom — which continues to provide a
with her own words: nontraditional and unique.
“It’s my curiosity and my un-
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