BUSINESS BRIEFS
Cruise travel up 15.9 percent

Advertiser Staff

More than 62,000 cruise ship passengers traveled around Hawai'i in the first three months of this year, up 15.9 percent from the same period a year ago, the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism said yesterday.

There were 16 cruise ships, including the home-ported Norwegian Star and the Norwegian Wind, that made 36 trips around the Islands.

Sprint assumes telecom service

Sprint Corp. yesterday said it will take over telecommunications relay services for the hearing and speech impaired in Hawai'i starting in July under an agreement with the Public Utilities Commission.

Current provider Verizon Hawaii Inc. notified the state in February that it would stop providing the service. Kansas-based Sprint said it will employ about 20 people in Hawai'i at a relay call center to be built in Honolulu.

In the interim, relay services will be handled by a call center in Tucson, Ariz.