Boston wireless Internet company Starry Inc. is bringing free high-speed service to one of the city’s public housing facilities.
In cooperation with the Boston Housing Authority, the company will provide free wireless broadband service in the community rooms and corridors of the Ausonia Apartments, a public housing facility in Boston’s North End. Residents will be able to connect to the Internet at speeds of up to 200 megabits per second. Starry chief executive Chet Kanojia said that while the free service is meant for use in the building’s common areas, many residents will be able to get access from inside their apartments.
Advertisement
The new service is just the first phase of a program called Starry Connect, which aims to deliver free or low-cost broadband services to low-income households in cities served by Starry. The Boston Housing Authority provides low-cost housing to 58,000 people, and Kanojia said he wants to offer the new service to every one of them. “Our hope is to add every building,” Kanojia said.
Starry uses high-frequency radios to deliver broadband to apartment and office buildings, at speeds comparable to landline Internet services. The company presently services 350,000 households in Boston and also operates in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Starry also plans to launch in 18 other US cities this year.