Starry, a small internet service provider based in Boston, is celebrating a milestone for its Starry Connect service, expanding the reach of its digital equity program to more than 55,990 household units of public and affordable housing.
Starry reached that goal at the end of 2021, a year that saw the company ink a deal with FirstMark Horizon Acquisition Corp. that will take it public. The company remains on track to close that SPAC transaction by the end of the first quarter this year.
Starry Connect, its $15/month product that promises 30 Mpbs, targets public and affordable housing. Its reach translates into an increase of 87.6% year-over-year. At the end of 2020, the Starry Connect service was available for 29,843 public and affordable housing units.
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It’s been a long-ish road for the company, founded in 2014 and led by CEO Chet Kanojia. He started Starry after having lost a run in the online video business with Aereo, which filed for bankruptcy after trying to defend its model at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Starry is challenging incumbents in the home broadband space by using 802.11 technology. Starry acquired licensed spectrum in the 24 GHz auction and uses millimeter wave to deliver wireless internet to homes.
Of course, Kanojia is optimistic about Starry’s chances, telling Fierce last year that it saw a 187% increase in revenue from 2019 to 2020, and it’s ready for the next stage of expansion.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, customer relationships reached 63,230, up 83.3% year-over-year, including net additions of 8,152 in the quarter
“Across the board, our team continues to execute and deliver strong quarterly results, exceeding our targets on customer growth and putting us on a path for sustained long-term growth,” Kanojia said in a statement this week. “As we look to the future and new year, I feel confident that we are making the necessary investments to maximize our long-term growth and success. Even in the face of the macro challenges presented by the pandemic, I’m proud that our team continues to perform at the highest levels, as evidenced by our strong growth in customers, our expanded network footprint, our continued high-level of customer satisfaction and importantly, our team’s continued commitment to expanding affordable connectivity to underserved communities.”
Starry’s standard fee is $50 per month for internet service, which currently is available in Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, Denver, as well as Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio. The company has not yet announced new markets for 2022, according to a spokesperson.
Here are some other highlights from its fourth-quarter results:
- Total serviceable households reached 5.3 million homes, an increase of 27.5% year-over-year.
- Customer relationship (subscriber) penetration reached 1.19%, an increase of 43.7% year-over-year.