The University of Hawaii and its partners say they are moving toward resumption of the popular live streaming of Oceanic’s showing of the school’s athletic contests.

But when they do resume — and nobody involved would offer a definitive timeline — consumers in Hawaii who are not Oceanic subscribers will likely not be able to view them, officials said.

At issue, people involved say, are growing concerns over protecting the rights of Oceanic, which currently guarantees UH a minimum of $2,392,920 annually for exclusivity in the market.

The 2014 agreement between UH and Oceanic says the university “shall not and shall cause its affiliates not to license, authorize or permit the production, exhibition or other related use of the college games within the territory by any other party other than the licensee…”

Oceanic and its owner, Time Warner Cable, which were acquired by Connecticut-based Charter Communications in May, had been streaming an array of UH events in recent years. But that apparently ended during Rainbow baseball and has carried over to Rainbow Wahine volleyball and UH football.

The parties had either streamed free or relied on an ability to block internet protocol addresses in Hawaii as a way to keep non-subscribers in the state from accessing the content.

This allowed UH fans, families of its players on the mainland and prospective recruits to follow the teams without having to ante up for pay-per-view packages or subscriptions.

But officials said some people in Hawaii apparently found ways around the geo-blocking or geo-fencing, as the geographically based restrictions are called, and were able to access PPV.

Oceanic airs UH football games free of PPV the following day.

As a result, streaming was cut back and UH has been huddling with its partners to find secure solutions. UH athletic director David Matlin said, “We have had feedback (from fans) and that means a lot to us. We’re working collaboratively with our partners to try and find a solution that works for all parties.”

Oceanic and Charter officials, here and in Connecticut, declined comment.

Under terms of its membership in the Big West Conference, where most of UH’s teams compete, the school is required to stream home contests in women’s volleyball as well as men’s and women’s basketball. It is expected to add men’s volleyball when the conference sponsors the sport in 2018.

The Big West said it “encourages” its members to stream baseball and softball, if they have the capability, but does not currently require it.

In the Mountain West Conference, where it competes in football, there is no obligation to stream the games, but it is encouraged, UH said.

Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell said, “The quality of our streams for those games range from one-camera shots to multi-cameras with graphics, announcers, the whole bit. It is up to the schools and whatever they are capable of providing.”

Farrell added, “The Oceanic (feed) has been, by far, the best quality that we’ve had,” with UH volleyball a leading draw.

Steve Chen, Big West assistant commissioner who oversees new media, said Rainbow Wahine volleyball “regularly” averages 3,500-4,000 viewers for road matches and 1,500-2,000 at home, with numbers climbing for bigger matches.

To satisfy the existing Big West requirements this year, Matlin said, “Right now, for women’s volleyball, we are streaming in-house.”

Whether the issue will be resolved in time for basketball remains unclear, although Matlin said, “I’m hoping that we can get to the point where we’ll just use our Oceanic stream (again), but I don’t know how soon.”