History:
Starry, Inc first came on the scene in Boston, Massachusetts back in 2016 led by Chaitanya “Chet” Kanojia. Those who think that name sounds familiar would be correct. Kanojia was also the founder of the technology company Aereo. That company was later absorbed by TiVo.
Starry has been an internet service provider (ISP) from the beginning, but started out very local. In 2017 Starry provided limited commercial internet service to a few apartment buildings in the greater Boston area.
In early 2019 Starry acquired 104 licenses for 24 Ghz millimeter-wave spectrum at an Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction. Starry used that new spectrum to expand to 51 new markets across 25 states.
Now, Starry is steadily becoming more popular for their internet services. It looks as though the company is poised to invest in a 5G fixed wireless system in the near future.
Internet:
Starry hopes to stand out from other ISP offerings by making their internet offerings as simple as possible. That’s why they only offer one flat price for internet service—$50 a month. Any consumers interested in using Starry as their ISP won’t have to worry about deciding which tier, package or bundle is the best deal. Even better? Starry’s internet services are commitment free. That means no long-term contracts.
$50 a month gets you speeds of up to 200 Mbps and all the gear you need to get your home network up and running. Starry provides each of their customers with a Smart WiFi hub at no extra cost to them. 200 Mbps is more than enough speed to online game, stream movies or have multiple people connected to the network at the same time with no issues.
Starry started as a local ISP, and tries to stay true to those roots by offering 24/7 customer support from actual people. Starry customers can rest easy knowing that if they ever experience any issues they won’t be stuck on hold with an AI caller, but will get help from an actual person at any time of the day.
Starry is uniquely positioned for the 5G future because of their early adoption of fixed wireless internet. Starry’s internet services are all already fixed wireless, which means they use millimeter waves to deliver data wirelessly at high speeds. These setups require multiple phase arrays, since the signal can’t be sent very far. That’s exactly the same set up required for a high-band 5G network.
Experts predict that Starry will transition to 5G-fixed wireless services in the very near future. As the demand for 5G grows, Starry is in the unique position of being able to easily transition their service offerings towards a 5G future. It will be interesting to follow Starry’s story moving forward.
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