Given Hawaii’s challenging topography, most community-serving institutions in the state rely on slow copper-based Internet service and face limited broadband availability. As a result, critical challenges exist in providing broadband-based services, especially in remote sections areas such as Hana on Maui and the islands of Molokai and Lanai. The University of Hawaii System is proposing to address this concern by expanding and enhancing a statewide fiber network to bring high-speed middle-mile service to the market and reliable connectivity to schools, libraries, and other community anchor institutions. The Ke Ala ‘Ike ( “pathway to knowledge”) project intends to deploy and enhance direct fiber optic connectivity to all community colleges and their remote distance learning centers, all public K-12 schools including public charter schools, and all public libraries on six islands. The project plans to provide 10 Gbps connectivity to institutions of higher education, 1 Gbps connectivity to K-12 schools and libraries, and backbone infrastructure to Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and the Big Island with 10 Gbps-capacity inter-island circuits.