Sandwich Isles starts first leg of broadband network. (Neighbor is Islands).

Native Hawaiian-owned Sandwich Isles Communications Inc. will begin constructing the first leg of its $500 million fiber-optic network on Kauai by April 2002, says company spokesman Gil Tam.

Ultimately, the project plans to link 69 noncontiguous parcels of Hawaiian homelands spread throughout the state with high-speed fiber-optic cable. This accounts for 200,000 acres on Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui and the Big Island.

"There are numerous approvals that are required under federal, state and county regulations before we can proceed with the project," Tam says. "We are trying to complete these requirements on all islands but have no idea when they will be …