Howard Dicus reports that the bankruptcy judge handling Hawaiian Telcom’s case has allowed Sandwich Isles Communications proposal to be considered. This is absolutely bad news for Hawaii’s key telecommunications company. It will ultimately mean that Hawaiian Telcom will probably not be able to exit bankruptcy later this year.On top of that, SIC’s proposal raises serious concerns about their business plan,financing and regulatory issues
SIC plans on applying for USDA RUS loans to upgrade telephone service in Hawaii’s rural areas. However 90% of Hawaiian Telcom’s customers don’t live in rural areas (e.g a population less than 5,000). Thus it is likely they wouldn’t be able to fulfill their grandiose plans to use federal gravy train money to significantly improve Hawaiian Telcom’s infrastructure.
However these issues are minuscule compared to the SIC’s secretive business practices. They don’t have a website, their corporate leadership is largely unknown along with their compensation, and their financial information is sealed under a protected order.
