By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
A Los Angeles-based satellite communications company has signed a lease with Campbell Estate to construct a $3 million satellite antenna facility that, in conjunction with a recent similar deal, will double the size of the estate’s Kapolei Teleport.
TransVision International, a company that supplies satellite transmission services to national TV networks and networks in Europe, Asia and Australia, plans to begin construction of four dishes next month at the growing teleport adjacent to Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park. Three are scheduled to be complete by August. The facility will employ three people.
Another company, Vision Accomplished Hawaii, expects to have four permanent satellite antennas operational by the end of March.
Both firms are aiming to provide Internet access to Asian countries that lack high-speed cable connections, by picking up fiber-optic data transmissions from the Mainland and sending the information via satellite to Internet access providers in regions lacking cable connections.
TransVision said this way it can transmit Internet data to two-thirds of the world’s population, including people in China, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and India.
"We see tremendous potential in Asia, and Hawai‘i is a great gateway to the market because it enables us to reach further into Asia by satellite than is possible from the U.S. West Coast," said Vince Waterson, TransVision vice president of business development.
Craig Landis, president of Vision Accomplished, said deregulation of the Internet in Asia and growing capacity of fiber-optic cables between the Mainland and Hawai‘i has presented opportunity for telecom providers here.
"Hawai‘i becomes a good jumping-off point for that data," he said. "We can give them a big, fat, fast link to Asia."
Kapolei, the West O‘ahu city being developed by Campbell Estate, welcomed its first satellite antenna in 1987. Today there are eight: four operated by Loral Cyberstar, two by Verizon Hawaii and two by USAsia Telecom. The teleport’s master plan is approved for 34 dishes.
The teleport is positioned to be an international telecommunications hub because of its proximity to fiber optic cables landing at Makaha and its location between the Mainland and Asia, industry experts say.
Landis said Vision Accomplished will probably double the number of antennas by the end of the year.
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