Conan the Deployer

Some 17 points up in his re-election race, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has uncorked an executive order to speed up the deployment of broadband across California. Or so the order claims.

There is nothing obviously offensive in the order itself, just some rather obvious bandwagon hopping by the Golden State's terminator-in-chief mixed with some vague streamlining of rights-of-way management. This could actually amount to something good, however, as questions about rights-of-way -- who owns them, what they might cost -- routinely tie-up physical plant upgrades nationwide.

However, the very notion that California needs a "broadband policy" seems ripe for all kinds of abuse, if not by Arnold, then perhaps some T-1000 follow-on unit.