Fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband provider Starry is in the process of building out its seventh market in the U.S., which it plans to launch in the second half of 2022. But CEO Chet Kanojia told Fierce there’s potential for its technology to reach additional areas it doesn’t plan to cover itself.
Speaking during Fierce’s Broadband Technology Summit, Kanojia said it is working on opening up its technology for other companies to use in the U.S. and abroad.
Internationally, he said its focus will likely be on “emerging markets where cities tend to be very dense and you need a lot of capacity and it’s difficult to justify a $10 or $15 or $20 ARPU fiber-style construction.” Stateside, “you’ll see us support other local ISPs as well where they have a need for upgrades, edge outs.”
Kanojia positioned the move as part of Starry’s commitment to offering low-cost broadband products. The operator currently serves Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Denver and Columbus, Ohio with plans starting at $15 per month for speeds of 30 Mbps. It ended Q1 with just over 71,000 customer relationships. Earlier this month, it signed on as one of 20 ISPs to commit to commit to offering speeds of at least 100 Mbps for no more than $30 per month.
The CEO argued this focus on consumer pricing sets it apart from other broadband players.
“What’s important to us is driving affordability in broadband not just access,” he said. “That’s in direct contrast to where you look at the segment and market where most of the operators are focused on how to extract money out of consumers and raise rates.”
During the session, Kanojia also offered his take on how Starry’s service is different from the fixed wireless products T-Mobile and Verizon are offering and tipped broadband competition to be more fierce than expected in rural parts of the U.S. His comments on the latter front are notable given Starry was one of the top winners in the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction and is set to connect more than 108,000 locations across nine states over the coming years.
Catch an on-demand replay of his full interview here.