Verizon is acquiring Starry, the ISP that delivers home internet using antennas and millimeter wave technology. The acquisition “advances” Verizon’s ability to offer high-speed internet in apartments, condominiums, and other multi-dwelling units, the company said on Wednesday.
Starry made its debut in Boston in 2016, offering gigabit speeds via its unconventional approach to internet connectivity. Instead of carrying connectivity across a web of wires — which are expensive and time-consuming to deploy — Starry beams its internet service from a larger antenna into homes via high-speed, short-range mmWave broadcasts. The challenge with those broadcasts is that Starry connections generally require an uninterrupted line of sight between the transmitter and the receiver, as mmWave signals can