DHHL Tells Beneficiaries To Ditch Sandwich Isles Communications Service
The company says that encouraging homesteaders to go to other service providers has driven down revenues.
The state is urging Hawaiian homelands beneficiaries to dump Sandwich Isles Communications as their telephone and internet provider and switch to Hawaiian Telcom or Spectrum.
The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands made that announcement in a press release on Friday. It comes as Sandwich Isles is embroiled in a bankruptcy dispute with Hawaiian Telcom.
DHHL said that 1,500 households and businesses on Hawaiian homelands statewide could lose service.
In a statement, Jaren Tengan, DHHL’s broadband coordinator, said the department has been reaching out directly to homestead lessees and businesses to find alternative service providers.
“The situation is unacceptable and we are committed to resolving it,” Tengan’s statement said.
The department said that offices in Kapolei and on Molokai have had intermittent phone service since Tuesday.
The department sent a on May 17 warning them about a drop in phone and internet services.
鈥淪IC is a private company with a troubled history,鈥 Tengan wrote.
The letter states that Sandwich Isles has stopped providing services to some beneficiaries and has told others that it鈥檚 no longer responsible for providing dependable services.
Albert Hee, the former president of Sandwich Isles, said that fewer than a dozen homes in the Puukapu homesteads on Hawaii island lost service after a power surge knocked out repeaters in the area. The department said that services have been completely down since April 23.
Asked about the 1,500 beneficiaries who DHHL said could lose services, Hee said he doesn鈥檛 know where the department got that number from.
鈥淭hey are saying it is Sandwich Isles fault, but that is not quite true,鈥 Hee said.
Hee acknowledged that the company鈥檚 financial situation is dire, but blamed it on DHHL鈥檚 decision to encourage homesteaders to sign up with other service providers. The department has set up a with directions on how to do that.
鈥淲ell, when they don鈥檛 use Sandwich Isles, we don鈥檛 have the revenue to continue services,鈥 he said.
In a statement, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke urged Sandwich Isles to transition beneficiaries to alternate service providers.
Hee was convicted of tax fraud in 2015 and sentenced to 46 months in prison. Prosecutors found that Hee steered $2 million from Sandwich Isles鈥 parent company to, including college tuition for his children and massages.
The Federal Communications Commission nearly $50 million in 2020 for violations related to Hee’s criminal charges. That same year, a judgment was entered against Sandwich Isles after it defaulted on more than $130 million in federal loans.
