Broadband Wireless Internet Access (BWIA) News

Starry’s low-cost Internet bridges the digital divide in US cities

Good article in Wi-Fi NOW - Starry’s low-cost Internet bridges the digital divide in US cities by Claus Hetting.

It is well know that broadband services can be both scarce and expensive across rural USA. What is lesser known is that similar problems exist when it comes to delivering affordable broadband to public and affordable housing communities within US cities.

Enter Starry Connect: A program connecting tens of thousands of households with Wi-Fi-based wireless Internet at only $15 a month. Starry says that currently some 30,000 affordable and public housing units across the US are eligible to benefit from the program, which is equivalent to more than 100,000 potential users. Participating in the program is the Denver Housing Authority, the New York City Housing Authority, the Los Angeles Housing Authority, and others.

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I've been a fan of Starry since its quiet debut after the techopathetic ruling from the US Supreme Court that doomed Starry's kind-of predecessor Aereo.

Starry is one of the better examples of seeing the potential of a new business In the failure of another business.

This story doesn't mention the genesis of Starry Internet, but with Aereo, Starry discovered that even in such an urban area as metropolitan Boston, reasonable speed / reliability / cost Broadband Internet Access was a significant issue.

Leveraging their considerable expertise in wireless technology developed with Aereo, in a savvy technological feat, Starry decided that they weren't going to entirely reinvent Broadband Wireless Internet Access (ala WiMAX). Instead they would make use of Wi-Fi technology which was nicely scaling in technology, reliability, speed, cost, etc. The problem with using Wi-Fi in Broadband Internet Access wasn't the technology, or the chips; the problem was the "Wi-Fi spectrum (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)" was getting more crowded / noisy / saturated. 

But millimeter wave spectrum wasn't crowded / noisy / saturated and was a great "topographical" fit for urban areas. So Starry recreated an old wireless technology - the transverter, which converted the access spectrum (millimeter wave) to Wi-Fi's 5 GHz, and then used a second Wi-Fi to distribute Starry's Internet Access to the customer's devices (only a few feet away). If you can see certain buildings in town from a window in your unit (buildings where Starry has their "base stations" on rooftops) Starry can provide you Broadband Internet Access. 

I haven't followed Starry closely in the last few years, but apparently they're now offering Broadband Internet Access in

• Boston
• Denver
• Los Angeles
• New York City (I bet they're doing very well there)
• Washington DC

Godspeed Starry!

PS - Starry's approach - rooftop to window, is the right way to make use of "5G" millimeter wave spectrum, not trying to provide service via millimeter wave directly to handheld devices. 5G providers will eventually get this memo.

Thanks for reading!
Steve Stroh
Bellingham, Washington, USA
2021-05-14
Portions Copyright © 2021 by Steven K. Stroh

 

Interview on Plutopia News Network Podcast

Plutopia News Network - STEVE STROH: BROADBAND ACCESS

(April 29, 2021) With Scoop and Jon, technology writer and broadband consultant Steve Stroh discusses broadband access, rural wireless Internet providers, satellite-based Internet, fiber networks, and much more.

“If you can get fiber, do it. Because it is the best, highest quality – not just fastest, but it’s the best option for broadband Internet access. Because, basically, it’s pure data. You’ve got a pair of glass fibers dedicated to you, typically straight between your house or business and the central office. Or wherever it’s going to be hubbed out of. It’s immune to electrical interference, it’s generally immune to everything – water doesn’t bother it, it’s not shared with other people, and about the only thing that can take out fiber is squirrels or backhoes.”

Steve writes about about Broadband Wireless Internet Access systems and technology. In 1997 he started a column about wireless for Internet Service Providers called Wireless Data Developments in Boardwatch Magazine in April, 1997. He’s currently thinking and writing about Independent Broadband Networks, small broadband networks usually in rural areas.

Direct link to MP3 audio file of the interview:
https://media.blubrry.com/plutopia_news_network/s/plutopia.io/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Steve-Stroh.mp3

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My wonderful wife Tina frequently accuses me of under-promoting myself, and I'm guilty as charged. I should have posted this a couple of weeks ago as soon as it was publicly available.

This interview was a fun conversation with Jon Lebkowsky, a techie of long-standing (exceeding my long standing techie-ness) and his podcasting partner-in-crime Scoop Sweeney on their eclectic podcast Plutopia News Network.

This interview came out of writing my story Why Starlink Will Win Rural Broadband. Jon and I are participants in "a certain online community (which I cannot name)" and as part of the discussions in that community about Starlink, Jon invited me to do an interview. Jon and Scoop were easy to talk to and asked good questions. They teased out the quote which quite dramatically starts the podcast. The hour plus of our conversation flew by quickly.

Thanks for reading!
Steve Stroh
Bellingham, Washington, USA
2021-05-13
Portions Copyright © 2021 by Steven K. Stroh