Cablefax The Magazine August 2023 - 15

Shoot for
the Stars
Starry Simplifies Joining the World of Broadband
By Cathy Applefeld Olson
At Boston-based Starry, the commitment to
digital equity is woven into the company's
ethos and shines in its work with underserved
communities in cities including New
York, Los Angeles, Denver and D.C. Since
launching its first network in 2018, Starry
now reaches more than 87,000 public and
affordable housing units.
" Everyone has the ACP. As we were getting
off the ground what was important for
us was to understand how those incomes
were being received in the underserved
communities we were targeting, and how
we could create our own low-cost program, "
says Virginia Lam Abrams, who
heads Starry's communications and digital
equity program. " We spoke to people at
HUD and other affordable housing providers,
and a few things stood out about why
these programs weren't being used as
much as they could. "
Among the issues the team discovered:
Some speeds offered in lower-cost plans
weren't meeting the federal definition of
broadband, which is download speeds of at
least 25 Mbps and upload speeds of at least
3 Mbps. " They were just deficient, " Lam
Abrams says. And all of the plans required
an eligibility component. " Some required
that you go through a federal credit check,
some required an equipment deposit. It
was just a long application process. "
Enter Starry Connect, which Lam Abrams
describes as " a low-barrier way for individuals
to take advantage of a program without
having to jump through hoops. We partner
directly with public and affordable housing
communities to make our program available
across the entire community. "
Residents who live in housing provided
by Starry Connects community partners
automatically qualify for the program and
pay a flat monthly rate. " A lot of times they
don't even know they're signing up for a
'low-cost' plan because it's just presented
as a plan for sign up, " she notes.
Last February, Starry Connect welcomed
CablefaxTopOps.com
Starry Internet provided connectivity and new computers to HACLA families to help
bridge the digital divide in the COVID-19 health crisis. The Starry Astronaut mascot helped
with the giveaway.
August 2023
TOP OPS 15
its ninth partner, the Housing Authority of
the City of Los Angeles' Avalon Gardens.
" Many people are still working and learning
from home, and it's important that we make
digital inclusion a priority, " says HACLA
president/CEO Doug Guthrie.
" There are a lot of trust issues in these
communities, with vendors in general, and
being able to build that trust from the getgo-with
everyone from the poverty level
to leadership of the organization that owns
the property-has been really important, "
Lam Abrams says.
The next step is putting in the work. " We
go into the community, hold face-to-face
tabling events, have a Starry rep on site to
explain our service and benefits like ACP.
Having that regular engagement is really
important. A lot of times a Starry representative
is a friendly face in the community.
They recognize our reps; a lot of them are
on a first-name basis. "
Starry teams have hosted four holiday
food drives in L.A. and NYC; created a
community lending library in New Jersey;
orchestrated coat and school supply
drives; and planted community gardens.
A recent Starry-sponsored scholarship
dinner for residents at Spring Creek
Towers in Brooklyn, NY-one of the largest
HUD-supported communities in the
country-also included gifting the scholarship
recipients with tablets, part of its
collaboration with Microsoft's Airband
Initiative.
" It all stems from identifying what are
the needs in these communities beyond
broadband, " she says. " And how can we
fill those needs while we're still talking
about broadband. "
DIGITAL EQUITY AWARD

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