New Report: Sacramento-Verizon 5G Partnership is Failing the Community

A new CWA report shows that Verizon has failed to deliver key community benefits it promised when the company and the City of Sacramento established a public-private partnership to build out a next generation 5G wireless network. The report also details the major issues around Verizon's use of subcontractors for the work associated with the 5G network build-out. Instead of generating jobs for Sacramento by hiring locally, out of 10 known subcontractors Verizon has hired to build the 5G network, seven are out-of-state firms, many with bad track-records when it comes to accountability and safety.

Along with the report release, CWA is launching a new website to inform Sacramento residents and communities across the country about the pitfalls of deals like the Verizon-Sacramento agreement, which favor corporate profits over the public interest. The site, www.Fair5G.org, provides resources to equip communities in their negotiations with wireless carriers. 

"It's clear that Verizon pushed Sacramento into an unfair deal with the promise of being a 5G city. Our report and website provides insight and resources to ensure the people of Sacramento, as well as folks across the country, get the transparency and accountability we deserve," said Tom Runnion, CWA District 9 Vice President. "The report clearly shows there was no transparency around the approval process for the deal and that Verizon has faced no accountability despite delaying or completely dropping key community benefits that it promised to deliver."

Read the full report here.