Hawaii's Network Resources Available to Education
Hawaii's educational community has access to the following resources, which
form the technological basis of Hawaii's educational networking infrastructure.
These resources include:
HAWAIIAN
The State of Hawaii developed
the HAwaii Wide Area Integrated Information Access Network (HAWAIIAN) as
part of its Strategic Program Initiative for Telecommunications and Computers.
HAWAIIAN consists of an inter-island digital microwave communications
backbone and an emerging intra-island synchronous optical network (SONET)
system. SONET carries voice, data, and T1-speed digital videoconferencing
services over these transport mechanisms. It is accessible via toll-free modem
calls on each island. HAWAIIAN is managed by the Information and
Communication Services Division (ICSD) of the Department of Budget and
Finance, and capacity on the network is made available to governmental
agencies including the University of Hawaii and Department of Education.
HITS
The Hawaii Interactive Television System (HITS) provides interisland video
services for the University of Hawaii,
Department of Education, state agencies, and
others. Point-to-point analog microwave carries four full-motion video signals
from Oahu to other islands, with local ITFS distribution to some schools and
hospitals. There is one return full-motion video from three of the neighbor
islands (Kauai, Maui, Hawaii) back to Oahu. This one channel is currently split
allowing for two return video channels. Five University campuses on four
islands are directly connected through HITS for two-way video programming.
In addition, HITS is interconnected with the State's other video networks and is
therefore accessible from additional campuses and government facilities. Hawaii
Public Broadcasting Authority (HPBA), the University of Hawaii, and the
Department of Education cooperatively plan the program schedule for HITS. In
January of 1995 the management of this statewide resource will become the
responsibility of the Office of Information Technology
at the University of Hawaii. This transfer was
conceived to improve operating efficiencies and facilitate further system
development and modernization.
Cable Television
Due to its mountainous terrain, Hawaii is the most heavily cabled CATV
jurisdiction in America. Service is provided by seven companies on six islands.
The largest of these is Oceanic Cablevision, a Time Warner subsidiary, which
serves most of Oahu (where three-fourths of the State's population resides).
Oceanic provides a network that connects schools via Ethernet over a hybrid
fiber-coaxial cable system in a metropolitan network (Ethernet-over-CATV over
CATV). Plans call for 70 schools/offices to have routers installed for ethernet-
over-CATV service by June 1995. The remaining cable companies on all the
islands are required to comply with the State mandates for institutional
networking similar to the system currently being developed on Oahu by Oceanic
Cablevision.
Hawaii FYI
Hawai'i FYI under the guidance of the
Information and Communication Services Division (ICSD) of the State's
Department of Budget and Finance provides an electronic services gateway for
government information. Hawaii FYI allows users with a personal computer or
at an ASCII terminal (located in all public schools and State libraries) to access a
host of news and public information related to State, city and county government
activities.
Institutional Networks (I-Net)
Cable TV is franchised on every island by the
State Department of Commerce
and Consumer Affairs (DCCA).
As part of the franchise agreements, all cable companies are required to assist the
State with construction of an infrastructure development known as the
Institutional Networks (I-Net). I-Net includes synchronous fiber optical
connections (SONET) between State buildings (schools, government, the
judiciary, UH campuses) over which video and data are transmitted. The system
includes capacity on the coaxial cable networks for Ethernet-over-CATV. The
SONET System will be extended to all schools and UH Campuses on Oahu by
1996-97.
Skybridge
Maui Community College, the
University of Hawaii campus serving the three islands of Maui County,
developed and operates this 1-channel 2-way interactive video network with
sites on the islands of Maui, Molokai and Lanai. Skybridge is currently based on
analog point-to-point microwave technology.
PEG Channels
Private nonprofit corporations are being established in each programming area
(typically an island) to support public, educational, and government (PEG)
access programming under the terms of the State's cable television refranchising
agreements. All cable companies can receive HITS,
which is used as a transport
mechanism for statewide cable programming. On Oahu, there are now three
PEG channels, including one solely dedicated to education. A dedicated higher
education channel is expected to be added during 1995. University campuses on
all islands and other sites connected through the Institutional Networks can
originate live programming.
