City of Long Beach Partners With Verizon to Bring Advanced Wireless Connectivity

Long Beach, CA – The City of Long Beach has partnered with Verizon on an innovative project that will benefit the community and enable Verizon to expand small cells to enhance wireless connectivity infrastructure and lay the foundation for 5G service. 5G refers to the fifth generation of mobile communication standards which is defined by faster speeds, more bandwidth and lower latency than current 4G networks. The agreement provides community benefits that further the City’s Master Fiber Plan, Digital Inclusion Initiative and Smart City Initiative.

“This partnership represents an actionable step forward to advance digital inclusion, improving the quality of life for residents, and moving Long Beach ahead as a leading smart city,” said Mayor Robert Garcia.

As part of the agreement, Verizon is providing 100 Mi-Fi hotspot devices activated with four years of service and $50,000 to the Long Beach Public Library Foundation which will be used to purchase Chromebooks. As part of the City’s Digital Inclusion Initiative, the Long Beach Public Library will implement a device check-out program for Long Beach residents.

“We are proud of this agreement that will support our youngest Long Beach residents during this time of mandatory online learning and beyond,” said Library Services Director Glenda Williams. “The student-targeted devices are critical for the success of those in need of technology and internet access.”

“These hotspots and Chromebooks, which will be available to students, will help the City’s efforts to bridge the digital divide,” said Long Beach Public Library Foundation Executive Director Katherine Azar.

Smart City solutions also will be supported as part of the agreement. For 24 months, Verizon will provide hardware and software services for an intersection safety analysis to guide traffic safety improvements, and traffic congestion data collection and mitigation insights to help the City understand and improve traffic flow for 10 routes and 30 miles of roadway.

Verizon will also install at no cost to the City a distributed antenna system (DAS) at the airport and at the convention center. DAS systems will greatly increase user wireless broadband experience.

Verizon will pay the City $100 per pole annually for a term of 20 years for up to 400 City-owned poles, streetlights or other assets, and the City agreed to expedite these permit requests for both small cells on poles and fiber lines. The City has adopted visual standards for these poles according to state and federal law. Verizon also will provide at no cost to the City nearly nine non-contiguous miles of fiber network conduit for the City to use to develop its fiber network to connect Citywide facilities. This fiber infrastructure is a critical operational and strategic City asset that hand in hand with City staff, facilitates the delivery of services to residents, businesses and visitors.