Local companies and agencies hoping to tap into the broadband bonanza have applied for more than $350 million in federal stimulus grants and loans.

Hawaiian Telcom Inc., Sandwich Isles Communications Inc. and the University of Hawai'i are among the local bidders for more than $7.2 billion set aside by the Obama administration to improve broadband networks in rural and underserved areas.

"I think our getting broadband money is important ... for the economy, for public safety and public health," said Larry Reifurth, director of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and point person for the Lingle administration's broadband efforts.

The largest request came from a company called Gold Ivory LLC, which is controlled by Sandwich Isles' parent, Waimana Enterprises Inc.

Gold Ivory is seeking $172.6 million in grant money to build a new fiber optic and microwave network serving Neighbor Island public safety agencies such as police, fire and civil defense.

Sandwich Isles has put in its own request for $64.7 million in grant funding and $67.3 million in low interest loans to complete its statewide fiber optic network.

The company provides heavily subsidized phone lines to Hawaiian homesteaders. It also has the exclusive lease on a 358-mile undersea cable connecting O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands.

Other applicants for the broadband stimulus money include:

• Hawaiian Telcom, which is seeking $6.3 million in grants for a high-speed broadband network in remote parts of the Big Island.

• The University of Hawai'i, which put in for more than $36 million to develop a fiber optic network connecting public schools, public libraries and the university system.

• Aloha Broadband Inc., which offers wireless Internet services in Ka'u on the Big Island, applied for about $200,000 in funding to expand its services to North Kohala and South Kona.

The local applicants have plenty of competition. The federal government received requests from 2,200 companies and local agencies totaling more than $28 billion.

Elton Wilson, president of Aloha Broadband, said the federal funding is necessary for residents in remote places like Ka'u, where the only alternative is dial-up service.

Wilson said his company serves about 650 customers, many of whom are families who home-school their children, or businesses such as coffee farms, which need high-speed Internet services to fill online orders.