Starry (Wireless Internet Service Provider)

[dkyeager]

Been following these guys for a long time. Should have posted about them before.  Here is an interesting article about their current status: https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/starry-likes-its-chances-during-these-tough-economic-times

[dkyeager]

life in the fast lane: 100,000 customers.  breakeven under a year per building.  Could run out of cash in 6 months. https://www.lightreading.com/broadband/fixed-wireless-access-(fwa)/starry-seeks-paths-to-bridge-its-funding-gap/d/d-id/779574?

[dkyeager]

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/starry-cuts-508-jobs-halts-new-builds

They have laid off about 50% of their workforce. Growth is good.  Could run out of cash early next year.  I don't see markets financing it thus expect a sale.

[iansltx]

2 hours ago, dkyeager said:

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/starry-cuts-508-jobs-halts-new-builds

They have laid off about 50% of their workforce. Growth is good.  Could run out of cash early next year.  I don't see markets financing it thus expect a sale.

Maybe Google buys it and pulls it under the Webpass banner?

[dkyeager]

4 hours ago, iansltx said:

Maybe Google buys it and pulls it under the Webpass banner?

Dish could be another option.  Part of their plan was reportedly to provide in home internet service thus replace individual home satellite dishes.

[Paynefanbro]

Neville has mentioned in the past that T-Mobile has explored the idea of using their mmWave spectrum to provide internet to entire apartment buildings much like Starry has done. Picking up Starry could give them a bit of a head start on that plan.

[Paynefanbro]

On 10/21/2022 at 9:59 PM, Paynefanbro said:

Neville has mentioned in the past that T-Mobile has explored the idea of using their mmWave spectrum to provide internet to entire apartment buildings much like Starry has done. Picking up Starry could give them a bit of a head start on that plan.

Looks like Neville acknowledged the value of mmWave for FWA again.

https://www.lightreading.com/5g/t-mobile-shows-big-customer-gains-promises-more/d/d-id/781403?

Quote

"We've barely tapped our millimeter wave [spectrum] assets," T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert explained, noting that T-Mobile has additional spectrum resources it could allocate for extra FWA capacity.

 

[iansltx]

Given that T-Mobile is adding 500k FWA customers per quarter, guessing that in some areas they have enough customer density for it to be worth bumping site backhaul now, and if the trend continues add mmW and have high-usage customers swap CPE to mmW-capable gear. But T-Mobile also isn't tapping out 140 MHz of n41 backhaul-wise, and their existing FWA CPE is all X55 I think so it's limited to one 100 MHz channel even as current-gen flagships can do the full 140.

[dnwk]

I am using Starry for my home internet. I hope it doesn't collapse and make me go to cable.

[dkyeager]

6 hours ago, dnwk said:

I am using Starry for my home internet. I hope it doesn't collapse and make me go to cable.

Could be a good fit for T-Mobile. AT&T is heavily invested in Fiber To The Home.  The spectrum alone is worth money.  If management/major shareholder have hubris, it will likely need to go bankrupt first.

Some argue that it should have gone with more markets at once to get scale. That would have resulted in faster bankruptcy. Basically timing is everything in business.

 

[dkyeager]

https://www.lightreading.com/broadband/starry-still-fighting-as-it-faces-stock-delisting-/d/d-id/782456?

 

Are you feeling lucky? Or just a loser?? At 2 cents a share you could make signicant money. Or lose it all.

[dkyeager]

https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/top-three/starry-internet-cuts-another-100-jobs/

25% of remaing workers cut. Line of credit canceled.  Sounds like a zombie corporation at best. Sigh.

Still hoping for a sale so the spectrum gets used.

[dkyeager]

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230131005990/en/Starry-Announces-Intention-to-Depart-Columbus-Market

https://starry.com/blog/columbus/q-a-about-our-decision-on-columbus

https://starry.com/blog/columbus/columbus-customer-faqs

Looks like they could not even sell their their customer list.  During the same time as this AT&T has expanded their fiber footprint, especially to large condos.  T-Mobile home internet would also be a factor.  Seems harder to get Verizon WISP than T-Mobile thus may not have been a factor.  AEP must have seen it as hopeless otherwise they could have taken it over.

[dkyeager]

Starry has not been running ads for a long time,   Word of mouth/social media was likely taking too long given their dire straights.

[dkyeager]

Starry files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Will it become a zombie corporation?  The question is who is taking a haircut?  Almost certainly the shareholders (likely a total loss), likely the lenders as well.

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/starry-files-chapter-11-bankruptcy

https://www.starry.com/blog/mission/path-forward

https://www.starry.com/blog/mission/chapter-11-restructuring-process-faq

https://dyajmw2sca9cs.cloudfront.net/press/pdf/PR+Starry+Announces+Voluntary+Chapter+11+Bankruptcy+Filing+FINAL.pdf

 

[dkyeager]

https://www.telecompetitor.com/fcc-proposes-8m-in-fines-against-starry-geolinks-20-other-rdof-bidders/

FCC might be trying to put them out of business.

[Trip]

Or, perhaps, holding companies to rules they agreed to follow?

- Trip

[dkyeager]

2 hours ago, Trip said:

Or, perhaps, holding companies to rules they agreed to follow?

- Trip

Perhaps both.  Likely dead man walking. Spectrum needs to be freed in markets where they don't exist.

[dkyeager]

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/starry-names-new-ceo-it-prepares-exit-chapter-11  going private in July or Aug. No more residential. Only apartments with 10 or more units.

[dkyeager]

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/starry-ready-start-anew-after-exiting-chapter-11

Reminds me of DSLnet many years ago. Their initial value was a revolutionary way to get around expensive T1 links with SDSL which was rare, but they could not grow fast enough. Went through a bankruptcy process, but by then their product was no longer unique, thus stuck with sideways growth.