Data Centers in Honolulu

Honolulu – Strategic Mid-Pacific Connectivity Hub

Honolulu serves as a critical digital gateway between North America and the Asia-Pacific region. Its data center market is purpose-built for businesses that require low-latency connectivity for content delivery, subsea cable landing, and disaster recovery. This unique geographic position allows organizations to improve service delivery and ensure uptime for users across the Pacific.

Honolulu: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Honolulu's primary value is its role as a major intersection for trans-Pacific subsea cables. This makes it an essential peering and interconnection point for traffic flowing between continents.

• Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: The market features over 5 unique network providers as of September 2025, with several carrier-neutral facilities offering diverse connectivity options.
• Direct Cloud On-Ramps: The market provides over 1 dedicated cloud on-ramp, enabling direct, private access to 1 cloud region as of September 2025. This includes a local on-ramp for AWS.
• Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): The Honolulu Internet Exchange (HNLIX) is central to the local ecosystem, enabling efficient traffic exchange between carriers and content providers to reduce latency for Hawaiian users.
• Bare Metal: Bare metal server options are available from providers like phoenixNAP, offering dedicated compute for performance-sensitive applications.

Power Analysis

Hawaii's isolated grid presents unique power considerations. While reliable, costs are significantly higher than on the US mainland due to a reliance on imported fossil fuels.

• Average Cost Of Power: Industrial electricity rates range from approximately $0.28 to $0.35 per kWh as of September 2025. These higher costs are a key factor for tenants budgeting for deployments in this market.
• Power Grid Reliability: The power grid in Honolulu's commercial districts is well-engineered to support critical infrastructure. Data centers leverage this with their own redundant UPS systems and generator backups to ensure continuous operation.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Honolulu's business environment is driven by its strategic location, a significant US military presence, and a thriving tourism sector.

• Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers are located near downtown Honolulu and key subsea cable landing stations, providing low-latency connectivity to the state's commercial and government hubs.
• Regional Market Reach: Honolulu is the only strategic point for hundreds of miles to cache content and peer traffic, making it indispensable for serving Hawaii and as a midpoint for Asia-Pacific and North American networks.
• Tax Advantage For Data Centers: Hawaii offers incentives including revolving credit for green infrastructure and has a proposed data center tax credit. These programs aim to lower the financial barrier for building and operating critical digital infrastructure in the state.

Natural Disaster Risk

Hawaii's geographic location exposes it to a unique combination of natural hazards. Data centers in the region are engineered to withstand these specific environmental threats.

The FEMA National Risk Index for the area is High, with a score of 87.69 as of September 2025. Key risks include hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, and wildfires. Facility selection and infrastructure design are critical to mitigating these risks.