Verizon West Region President Tim McCallion/Verizon's Thousand Oaks headquarters entrance

On October 27, 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an "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."

In so doing, Governor Schwarzenegger was belatedly implementing a principal campaign promise made by this reporter during his own campaign for Mayor of "Valley City" during the ill-fated San Fernando Valley Secession Election of 2002 in the City of Los Angeles, when he called for "universal, ubiquitous Internet broadband connectivity for everyone in the San Fernando Valley."

On November 30, 2006, Governor Schwarzenegger announced "Appointments to the Broadband Task Force" created by his October 27th executive order.

Among those appointed to the Governor's Broadband Task Force was Verizon West Region President Tim McCallion.

Mr. McCallion sat down this morning in the conference room at the Thousand Oaks, California, offices of Verizon with Etopia News/ Real Broadband Channel reporter-producer Marc Strassman to talk about the creation of the Governor's Broadband Task Force, its mission and timetable, and the impact on broadband deployment of recent events including the passage of AB2987, the "Digital Infrastructure and Cable Competition Act of 2006," and the Federal Communications Commission's decision yesterday to approve "a bunch of rules designed to make it easier for telephone companies to offer video services."

Addressing the question of whether, when, and how U.S. Internet users might be able to access the same 100 mbps symmetrical "real broadband" connections required for multiple HDTV reception, rapid transfer of large data files, high-quality videoconferencing and telecommuting, and other, emerging interactive applications, as called for in a recent opinion piece by telecommunications attorneys Jim Baller and Casey Lide, entitled "America Needs a Fiber-Based National Broadband Policy Now, If Not Sooner," Mr. McCallion indicated that Verizon was already moving in that direction, and would continue to offer the fastest possible fiber-based Internet connections to residences and businesses in proportion to the expressed willingness of its existing and potential customers to demand such connections.

You can watch and listen to Verizon West Region President Tim McCallion's statement to this effect, and watch and listen to today's entire half-hour video interview, on the Real Broadband Channel below.

Also available on the Real Broadband Channel below is a 90-minute audio interview with Bill Kula, Director-Western Bureau Media Relations, Verizon Communications, recorded January 27, 2006, in which the telecom spokesperson explains in extensive detail just how the FiOS technology, which is basis of Verizon's high-speed broadband initiative and the linchpin of its business strategy going forward, works.