Starry Internet Cuts 500 Jobs, Half Its Workforce, and Cancels Big Expansion

Wireless home Internet provider Starry is cutting 500 employees, about half of its workforce, and canceling plans to expand into new states. Starry's board of directors yesterday approved the plan to cut 500 jobs, the Internet service provider said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing today. From a report: "The decision was based on cost-reduction initiatives intended to reduce operating expenses and allow the Company to focus on serving its existing core markets and customers," the filing said. Starry said the job cuts will be "substantially complete" by the end of December. Starry also announced a freeze on hiring and non-essential expenditures and withdrew full-year 2022 guidance that was previously given to investors. "This is an extremely difficult economic climate and capital environment, and at present we don't have the capital to fund our rapid growth. Because of that, we're focusing our energies on our core business: serving multi-tenant buildings in our existing dense urban markets," Starry CEO Chet Kanojia said in a press release. The press release suggests the job cuts won't be the last major changes for Starry. The company said the cost-cutting plan will "conserve capital and improve its capital runway as it explores all strategic options." Starry launched in 2016. In mid-2019, Starry spent $48.5 million on 24 GHz spectrum licenses covering more than 25 million households in 25 states. "Combined with Starry's current deployment roadmap, Starry's fixed wireless footprint will reach more than 40 million households, covering more than 25 percent of all US households," the company said at the time.

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