Tasa Hawai’i Connected to Helium

Tasa Hawai’i has connected Waimea Valley on Oahu’s North Shore to the Helium Network, bringing wireless coverage to an area where traditional cellular infrastructure has been difficult to build. Tasa Hawai’i is a small network deployment company focused on community-scale wireless infrastructure. Helium is a decentralized wireless network that supports connectivity through independently operated access points.

Tasa brought fiber into the valley and reused existing conduit where possible. The initial deployment took about three months, with much of the work completed after visitor hours. Now, 14 Helium Plus access points provide coverage along the route from the visitor center to the waterfall. The network supports fast roaming between access points, allowing phones to stay connected while visitors walk the three-quarter-mile trail.

Over a recent 30-day period, about 1,206 devices connected to the network each day. Tasa has also deployed a carrier-offload site in downtown Honolulu, which now handles nearly 600 GB of cellular data daily.

The company is now expanding the network toward Waimea Bay. The next stage could show whether the same infrastructure model can provide connectivity in other locations where traditional cellular deployments are difficult or too expensive.

Image: Magnific