Only fiber can provide the bandwidth necessary to maintain the speed required for so many users. Two other regions in the planning stages, the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Far East, will complete the network. The Pacific Fleet LAN is unique because when complete it will be one large LAN, not separate networks bridged together. It will virtually link a Naval force covering roughly half the surface area of the earth. We're putting knowledge management and information management in the hands of the individuals rather than the managers.
Information is power, but that power is enhanced when it is shared.
When the project is complete, all Navy forces throughout the Pacific can take advantage of interactive networking. The speed will virtually be the same whether a user interacts with another in the same office or across the Pacific. The second phase of OBAN will add peripheral commands on the island including the 450 users at Kaneohe Bay, the largest component of the second group. Phase two is ahead of schedule and should be complete in the next fiscal year. This is the first place in the United States Navy that is completely wired.