"Broadband will help build California so we can grow our economy by competing in the global marketplace," said Gov. Schwarzenegger.

10/27/2006 GAAS:786:06 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Executive Order to Help Make California the Leader in Telecommunications Revolution

Fulfilling his commitment to digitally connect California's cities to each other and the world, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed an executive order to clear the government red tape for building broadband networks, ensure all government agencies are using the best technologies to serve the people and creates a broadband task force that lets experts from government and business work together to identify and eliminate obstacles to making broadband internet access ubiquitous in the state.
"California is home to the greatest technology entrepreneurs. Let's show the world what we can do," said Gov. Schwarzenegger at the UC Davis Health System Pediatric Telehealth Colloquium in San Francisco, where a doctor examined an 11-year old leukemia patient by video about 100 miles away in Sacramento. "If we want to stay No. 1 in technology, we need action. In countries like Japan and South Korea, the people have access to great technologies at lower costs than anywhere in America. We can do that. Michigan has one of the largest wireless broadband networks in the country. We can do that. That’s why I’m signing an executive order to help make California a leader in the telecommunications revolution."

Telemedicine is just one of the exciting possibilities that expanding broadband access would bring to the state.

Highlights of the executive order include:

Establishing a broadband task force to recommend additional steps the Governor can take to promote broadband access and usage.
Designating one agency—Business, Transportation & Housing (BT&H)—as lead coordinator for implementing the state’s broadband policy, to help ensure cohesion, speed and efficiency.
Directing BT&H to create a database linking private broadband companies with state transportation agencies, permitting companies to better coordinate fiber optic installation, leading to more consumer choice and efficient pricing.
Establishing a pricing policy for private companies paying for “rights-of- way” access to state roads. Previously, charges to lay fiber varied widely—the order sets pricing based on actual costs incurred by the State.
Calling for streamlined, expedited rights-of-way permitting procedures to accelerate broadband deployment.
Directing BT&H to collect and analyze current broadband information so the state can accurately map existing resources.
Directing the Department of General Services to make wireless Internet access available in State buildings and increase video streaming to deliver public meetings, training materials and other state resources online.
Directing state agencies to enable Voiceover Internet Protocol technologies for business and government use, and include broadband conduit in their infrastructure planning.
After his speech to the colloquium, Gov. Schwarzenegger joined Silicon Valley CEOs and executives to discuss the economic development that increased broadband adoption would spur.

"Broadband will help build California so we can grow our economy by competing in the global marketplace," said Gov. Schwarzenegger. "California must remain competitive so we continue to attract the best, brightest and most creative workforce in the world."

Since Gov. Schwarzenegger took office, California has added more than 650,000 jobs and the unemployment rate has fallen to 4.8 percent. Investing in broadband will help continue California’s economic prosperity.

Research conducted on the California "One Gigabyte or Bust" Broadband Initiative estimated that enabling broadband access for 50 percent of Californians would have enormous economic impacts on the state, adding over $365 billion annually to the state's economy within seven years and helping create or retain two million sustainable jobs. Similarly, the California Communications Association estimates that every dollar invested in broadband networks generates $3 in economic activity, and that every $1 billion in telecom capital spending equates to 7,000 new telecom jobs – including jobs in network construction, engineering, operations and the creation of new equipment and products.

A U.S. Commerce Department study released this year found that the availability of broadband is directly tied to business growth – especially among new technology-intensive firms. Greater broadband access will directly support California’s world-leading technology industry – creating jobs both in the communications sector and for high-tech companies like Intel, Google, Yahoo!, and eBay, which rely on internet usage to drive business. Increasing broadband deployment will also further support the California economy by making our state an attractive home for the nation’s – and the world’s – preeminent scientists and researchers. The U.S. currently trails several European and Asian countries in broadband access rates.


Attached is the
full text of the executive order