Kawaihae Cable Landing Station

Kawaihae Cable Landing Station lies along the Queen Kaahumanu Highway, Kawaihae, in the northwest coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. The landing site is within the Samuel M Spencer Beach Park, about 3.5 Km away from the terminal station. The Kawaihae Cable Landing Station is owned by Hawaiian Telcom which acquired Wavecom Solutions (formerly Pacific LightNet, Inc, or PLNI) in 2012. The Kawaihae CLS is the terminal station for the Honotua and Hawaii inter-island submarine cables.

There is another cable landing station near Spencer Beach, i.e., the Spencer Beach Cable Landing Station for Southern Crossing, which is located approximately 1.4 km (.85 mi) north of the Kawaihae CLS. 

Station Name:

• Kawaihae Cable Landing Station, or Kawaihae CLS

Station Owner:

• Hawaiian Telcom/Wavecom Solutions Corp (formerly Pacific LightNet, Inc, or PLNI)

Available Backhaul Providers:

• Hawaiian Telecom / Wavecom Solutions / PNLI

Submarine Cable Systems:

• Honotua
• Hawaii Inter-island Fiber Network

About PLNI/Wavecom Solutions:

Pacific LightNet is a locally-owned, facilities-based CLEC, providing both voice and data services to its customers in Hawaii. At the core of its products and services is a 10,000 fiber mile submarine and terrestrial fiber optic network connecting the state’s six major islands, the first and only of its kind. Linked to all major submarine cable landing stations throughout Hawaii, the network provides capacity and services to the mainland and the Pacific Rim.

Pacific LightNet provides both local and long distance phone service, dial-up and broadband Internet access through wireless or DSL, VoIP, and collocation.

Pacific LightNet can trace its beginnings back to 1986, previously Tel-Net Hawaii and then GST Hawaii. GST Hawaii was the first company in the state to receive authority to provide local exchange service in competition with GTE Hawaiian Tel (September 1996).

GST Hawaii operated as a subsidiary of GST Corporate through May 2000. On May 12, 2000, citing market conditions, massive debt and the inability to raise additional capital, GST Corporate filed for bankruptcy. In January 2001, Time Warner Telecom purchased significantly all the assets of GST Corporate except for the Hawaiian operation and 12 fibers on parts of the Hawaii Inter-island Fiber Network (10,000 miles of submarine and terrestrial fiber linking the 6 major islands).

As one of the secured creditors, Tomen America (now owned by Toyota) looked to longtime associate John Warta and his NextNet Investments to turn around the struggling Hawaiian operation. Tomen provided the assets and NextNet provided the management expertise. On March 27, 2001, Tomen and NextNet took over operational control of GST Hawaii as Pacific LightNet, Inc (PLNI). As part of this transaction, PLNI also agreed to purchase Hawaii OnLine (HOL), at the time Hawaii’s largest ISP, as part of the overall transaction. When the transaction was closed on October 11, 2001, Tomen and NextNet became the two joint owners of the company.

In 2004, PLNI started operating as Pacific LightNet Communications (PLNC) to confirm the fact that the company is in the communications business. PLNC has commercial operations on Kauai, Maui, Molokai, Oahu, Lanai and the Big Island. PLNC has customers ranging from the largest businesses in Hawaii to the smaller ones and includes the hospitality industry, the military, non-profits as well as the high-tech business park on Maui.

In mid-2005, Pacific LightNet Communications ceased using the word "Communications" in its branding. It now known simply as "Pacific LightNet".

In February 2008, Pacific LightNet filed an application with the state Public Utilities Commission for approval to transfer all of its holdings to SK Telecom Holdings LP, and Pacific Lightnet, Inc. (PLNI) was rebranded Wavecom Solutions Corp.

In early 2008, OPT and Wavecom Solutions (then known as Pacific LightNet Inc., or PLNI) signed a Landing Party Agreement (LPA) which permits OPT to land Honotua at the Kawaihae Cable Landing Station.

In 2012, Hawaiian Telcom completed the acquisition of Wavecom Solutions.