The Jersey City Housing Authority is the 9th public housing
authority to join Starry’s digital equity program, Starry
Connect.
Starry Group Holdings, Inc. (the “Company” or “Starry”), a
next generation licensed fixed wireless internet service provider
and technology developer, today announced a partnership with the
Jersey City Housing Authority (“JCHA”) to provide access to its
Starry Connect program for residents at the Hudson Gardens and
Thomas J. Stewart communities in Jersey City, New Jersey. Residents
will have access to Starry Connect’s high-speed, uncapped home
broadband service, with plans starting as low as $15 per month with
no data caps, no long-term contracts, no credit checks, no extra
fees for equipment, free installation and 24/7 world-class customer
support.
Additionally, residents in both communities can opt-into the
federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which
provides a subsidy of up to $30 per month towards broadband access
for eligible households. For residents that sign up for Starry’s
service and opt-in to the ACP program, that benefit can cover the
entire cost of broadband service for the household while the
program remains in effect. Starry launched service in Hudson
Gardens, a 224-unit family community, in April 2022. Service to
Thomas J. Stewart, a 48-unit senior community, will launch in May
2022.
“At Starry, we believe that connectivity is a social good and
therefore should be both affordable and ubiquitous,” said
Virginia Lam Abrams, Starry’s Executive Vice President of
Government Affairs and Strategic Advancement. “Unfortunately,
the high cost of broadband creates an insurmountable hurdle for
many of our families living in public and affordable housing to get
the home connectivity they need for school, work, and staying
connected with loved ones. Starry is proud to partner with JCHA to
provide access to low- and no-cost broadband service options to
residents of Hudson Gardens and Thomas J. Stewart Apartments.”
“JCHA began focusing on digital equity in 2018, joining
ConnectHomeUSA, a national initiative led by EveryoneOn, which
seeks to bridge the digital divide for residents of HUD-assisted
housing,” said Vivian-Brady-Phillips, JCHA Executive
Director. “Research at that time showed fewer than 30% of
public housing residents had internet access, and even those who
were connected generally lacked laptops or computers. The pandemic
has widened the impact of this digital divide, while drawing
attention to the barriers that leave low-income households
disconnected. We are ecstatic to partner with Starry to bridge this
gap by building essential broadband infrastructure and offering
high-speed, low-cost access to our residents.”
The Jersey City Housing Authority is New Jersey’s second largest
public housing authority, providing more than 15,000 residents with
quality affordable housing opportunities. JCHA has approximately
7,100 housing units in its portfolio, including approximately 2,400
public housing units and 4,700 Housing Choice Vouchers.
“In Jersey City, we are implementing innovative solutions to
help close the digital divide and ensure all of our residents,
regardless of income, are afforded equitable opportunities,
especially when it comes to their education and employment,” said
Jersey City Mayor Steven M. Fulop. “Over the past year,
we’ve successfully wired three JCHA public housing developments
with high-speed, low-cost internet services, and this latest
partnership with Starry will include two additional sites to help
hundreds of residents.”
Today, nearly a quarter of Americans are without a broadband
connection at home, with financial constraints being one of the
most important reasons why they forgo this service, according to a
survey from the Pew Research Center1. Starry designed its Starry
Connect program to address the digital divide by providing an
affordable and ultra-low-barrier broadband option to public and
affordable housing communities. Starry Connect brings
ultra-low-cost broadband service to public and affordable housing
residents without requiring credit checks, long-term contracts,
individual eligibility requirements (such as household
participation in SNAP, WIC or Medicaid) or a lengthy application
process. Starry Connect plans start at $15 per month for 30 Mbps
symmetrical speeds. This innovative approach to removing broadband
adoption barriers earned Starry designation as a ConnectHomeUSA
stakeholder through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development in 2019.
The following broadband service plans are available exclusively
in Starry Connect partner communities:
Plan Name
Plan Speeds up to
Plan Cost
Plan Details
Starry Connect
30 Mbps download
30 Mbps upload
$15
- $0 cost to resident with ACP Subsidy
Benefit
- No Credit Checks
- No Data Caps
- No Long Term Contracts
- No Extra Fees or Taxes
- No Install Fee
- No Equipment Fee
- 24/7 Customer Support
Starry Select
100 Mbps download
50 Mbps upload
$30
- $0 cost to resident with ACP Subsidy
Benefit
- No Credit Checks
- No Data Caps
- No Long Term Contracts
- No Extra Fees or Taxes
- No Install Fee
- No Equipment Fee
- 24/7 Customer Support
The Starry Connect program covers more than 63,000 units of
public and affordable housing across New Jersey, New York,
Massachusetts, DC, Virginia, California, Colorado and Ohio. JCHA is
the Connect program’s ninth public housing partner joining the New
York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the Housing Authority of the
City of Los Angeles (HACLA), Denver Housing Authority, Boston
Housing Authority, Brookline Housing Authority, Cambridge Housing
Authority, Innovative Housing Concepts (Englewood CO Housing
Authority) and Metro West Housing Solutions (Lakewood CO Housing
Authority) as public housing partners. In addition, Starry also
works with nonprofit and privately-owned affordable housing owners
such as Related Affordable, Beacon Communities, Schochet
Properties, Neighborhood Developers, and many others.
To learn more about Starry, Starry Connect, or sign-up for
Starry service, visit https://starry.com.
About Starry Group Holdings, Inc. At Starry (NYSE: STRY),
we believe the future is built on connectivity and that connecting
people and communities to high-speed, broadband internet should be
simple and affordable. Using our innovative, wideband hybrid-fiber
fixed wireless technology, Starry is deploying gigabit capable
broadband to the home without bundles, data caps, or long-term
contracts. Starry is a different kind of internet service provider.
We’re building a platform for the future by putting our customers
first, protecting their privacy, ensuring access to an open and
neutral net, and making affordable connectivity and digital equity
a priority. Headquartered in Boston, Starry is currently available
in Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Denver and
Columbus, OH. To learn more about Starry or to join our team and
help us build a better internet, visit: https://starry.com.
[1] Mobile Technology and Home Broadband 2021, The Pew Research
Center, June 2021
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/06/03/mobile-technology-and-home-broadband-2021/
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Media: Mimi Ryals, Starry mryals@starry.com
press@starry.com