SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced over $15 million in broadband project awards for infrastructure projects in California to be funded by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) funds:

“The broadband projects awarded to California businesses today will serve to benefit thousands of Californians in rural communities. These projects are vital to driving long-term economic growth in these areas by providing advanced technologies, and enabling job creation for decades to come. I congratulate today’s recipients of Recovery Act funds.”

Below are the broadband projects that were awarded to California.

Cal-Ore Communications, Inc. ($1,786,400) – Using this award of $1.8 million, the Cal-Ore Communications project will provide wireless broadband services in California’s north central Siskiyou County to a predominantly unserved rural area. More than 4,800 people, 365 local businesses and 27 community institutions stand to benefit from this improved service.

Calaveras Telephone Company ($4,086,976) – This $4.1 million award to Calaveras Telephone Company with an additional $2.3 million of outside capital will bring robust infrastructure of fiber-to-the-home technology to its existing customer footprint in Calaveras County. Calaveras’ project stands to benefit approximately 1,000 people, and several businesses.

SmarterBroadband ($2,498,724) – This $2.5 million award to SmarterBroadband will bring high quality fixed wireless service to one of the more geographically challenging areas in California. SmarterBroadband’s project stands to benefit more than 33,000 people, 3,500 businesses, and approximately 300 community institutions.

Softcom Internet Communications Inc. ($6,758,835) – This $6.8 million award to Softcom Internet Communications will provide 100% broadband availability to a large and underserved rural area. Softcom’s project stands to benefit approximately 14,000 people, 4,200 businesses, and several other community institutions.

The Recovery Act provided USDA with a total of $2.5 billion to invest in expanding broadband access to rural America. For more information about USDA’s Recovery Act efforts, visit www.usda.gov/recovery.
Governor Schwarzenegger created the California Recovery Task Force to track the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding coming into the state; work with President Barack Obama’s administration; help cities, counties, non-profits, and others access the available funding; ensure that the funding funneled through the state is spent efficiently and effectively; and maintain a Web site (www.recovery.ca.gov) that is frequently and thoroughly updated for Californians to be able to track the stimulus dollars.