Starry gives a round of applause as Verizon also enters fixed wireless
For organizations like Starry, the launch of Verizon’s 5G Home service is a welcome development. According to Chet Kanojia, the CEO of Starry, Verizon has legitimized 5G service through the launch of its Home service at 28GHz. He made this comment while having a chat with a team of tech journalists at the 2018 Next Gen Wireless Network Summit.
Although a company in its early stage, Starry is set to challenge the norm by providing a wireless service of up to 200mbs upload/download at a price of $50. Starry is a dynamic internet service that uses next-generation technology to provide lightning fast internet.
When the company was first launched some years ago, many people were cynical about utilizing millimeter wave band to provide any kind of stable, home-based service. The organization has launched the home-based service in the Boston area and for as long as it has been in operation, it has been doing quite well. Although Starry has not publicized the number of subscribers it currently has, Chet mentioned that the organization will likely break even in the Boston area within the second quarter of year 2019.
Apart from Boston, Starry has taken giant steps to cover some areas in the USA. The company launched its product in Los Angeles and is currently developing its site in New York, and Washington, D.C. In addition to these locations, the organization has mentioned that it will be launching in some other markets anytime soon. These new markets include Chicago, Phoenix, Memphis, South Dakota, Tennessee, Oregon, Manchester, Portland, and New Hampshire.
It is important to mention that the organization designs and develops its own in-house equipment. This is why the model is quite different from many other providers offering fixed wireless spectrum. Starry has invested time, money, and energy into developing its products to function in the form they are in. This includes a window unit that has been designed to be positioned inside and outside of the home window. There is an 802.11ax modem in the inside window unit, and an AESA (active electronically scanned array) antenna. This with a material that can withstand ice, snow and summer heat / sun.
While speaking about the deployment of its product, Kanojia stated that the company is directly working with real estate organizations and not public infrastructure to deploy its gear. This has been in development over a couple of years. He also went further to state that the proprietary active stage array technology of Starry is supported by the standard of IEEE’s 802.11ac Wi-Fi. This is one of the top reasons why the company has been able to attain the targeted number. Over the course of the development, it has been primarily using the 37GHz band.
Verizon launched its Verizon 5G Home service product on the 1st of October, 2018 in the regions of Houston, Indianapolis, Sacramento, California, and Los Angeles. According to Verizon, the service is free for a period of three months after which it will be increased to a monthly fee of $50 for customers who uses Verizon wireless services and $70 monthly fee for those that do not. Customers have been informed to expect average network speeds of about 300Mbps and 1Gbps, depending on the customer’s location.
Gilbert A Darrell is the Founder of Horizon. He has 18 years experience in information technology and telecom solutions, a veteran in Fire and EMS Services, a crypto enthusiast and a member of the Bermuda Government’s Cryptocurrency Task Force.
Horizon Communications is an upcoming fixed wireless internet and cellular service provider looking to provide services in Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Central America before expanding internationally. While utilizing 4th generation and soon 5th generation wireless technology,it will also heavily incorporate blockchain and cryptocurrency technology.
