Boston-based startup Starry last week announced a new pilot program in Boston to provide free and low-cost internet access in public housing communities, and also named new cities where the company plans to deploy its residential fixed wireless service over the next year.
The new program, called Starry Connect, is in partnership with the City of Boston’s Housing Authority (BHA). It aims to bring free wireless internet service to residents in common areas of the 100-unit Ausonia housing complex, though Starry CEO Chet Kanojia told the Boston Globe that many residents will be able to get access from inside their apartments.
Starry is also donating five computers for a designated computer lab in the building.
The BHA provides affordable housing to 58,000 people and Kanojia told the Globe that he hopes to offer Starry’s service to all of them.
“Access to high-speed broadband is critical for education, communication, and personal and professional development, and yet today, many people still lack access to a basic, affordable, and reliable internet connection,” said Kanojia in a statement. “We can’t sit on the sidelines and hope things get better.”
Starry disclosed it now passes more than 350,000 homes in Boston.
Starry uses millimeter wave spectrum in the 37 GHz to 38.6 GHz band to deliver its wireless in-home broadband and in July raised $100 million in C round funding, as pointed out by Light Reading. The company offers symmetrical 200 Mbps fixed wireless internet service for $50 per month with no data caps.
In January, the company announced that it would expand the launch of its beta service to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., as well as New York later this year. In addition to those, Starry is also deploying service in 18 additional markets over the next year, including newly named cities of Memphis, Tenn.; Phoenix; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Manchester, N.H.; and Portland, Ore.
Previously named markets include: Cleveland, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, Detroit, Atlanta, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Miami and Minneapolis.
Filed Under: Wireless Week
