EDITORIAL
Communications plan must benefit customer
Hawaiian Electric Co. is studying innovative technology that has the potential to revolutionize the so-called "broadband" or high-speed Internet industry in the Islands.
It also reinforces the idea that we are on the brink of seeing a confluence of communications technologies that should bring us better service, more options and — crucially — better value for our dollar.
It's already starting to happen, with high-speed Internet companies offering telephone service over their fiber-optic network and telephone companies offering Internet and movies via their telephone lines.
Now Hawaiian Electric says it will launch a large-scale demonstration of technology that will allow it to offer services, including Internet connections, through its power lines.
The technology is difficult to understand, let alone explain. But in short, scientists have developed ways to carry information at high speeds in two directions over existing power lines.
The primary motivator for Hawaiian Electric, if this technology works as expected, is to create a two-way system of communication with every power user. The advantages are obvious: The company can monitor power usage on a real-time, house-to-house basis, increasing flow when needed and decreasing or diverting it when the demand is greater elsewhere.
And there would no longer be a need for site-to-site meter reading.
The cost savings to the company — and to consumers — could be substantial. This would also help the company in its ongoing effort to manage demand, which postpones the need to build new power plants.
The same technology that allows the electric company to "talk" to individual sites might also be used to offer Internet access, entertainment and more.
As this moves forward, our hope is that regulators will keep in mind that the ultimate goal is to benefit the customer, with increased services at lower prices.
Price competition is needed in this increasingly important part of our communication and information environment. If this Hawaiian Electric experiment works and it helps drive down or control costs, it should be welcomed.
