Aereo Founder Chet Kanojia Is Back With A Plan To Disrupt The Broadband Industry

The Starry WiFi router

Chet Kanojia tried to take on the TV industry with his video streaming startup, Aereo. The effort failed spectacularly in 2014 when the US Supreme Court, in a ruling that sided with TV broadcasters, determined that the company’s core technology violated copyright law. Months later, Aereo, which had raised tens of millions, filed for bankruptcy.

Now Kanojia is back with a new, ambitious plan to take on entrenched Internet service providers like Time Warner Cable TWC +1.69% and Comcast CMCSA +0.00%. His new startup, Starry, which he unveiled Wednesday, claims it can deliver one gigabit Internet connections for a fraction of the cost of the incumbent players. 

“It’s a big market, but it’s a difficult place for anybody new to come in,” Kanojia said in a phone call. “The incumbents have carved up the market. But we think there’s a place for something new if you are a technologically competitive.”

Instead of having to build out expensive broadband infrastructure with fixed wires, Starry is relying on wireless “millimeter wave technology.” Millimeter waves are running above 30 GHz frequency spectrum — which isn’t used these days. Base stations placed on top of buildings will wirelessly beam the millimeter wave and antennas sitting outside a customer’s window will pick it up.

Kanojia anticipates Starry’s solution will cost only $25 or less per home compared to the $2,500 he says it costs to lay out wired infrastructure for comparable speeds. Kanojia also said Starry’s Internet service won’t require professional installation and place data caps on usage. 

“The vast majority of the country has only one Internet service provider,” Kanojia said. ”They don’t have an alternative. In those places, we think bringing an internet service that can be built out more cost effectively makes a lot of sense for consumers.”

Starry is also building its own router for translating the millimeter waves into WiFi signals. The router will cost $350 and will ship in March — no word on how much the service will cost. The WiFi router will have its own touchscreen display running Android that will lets users see how well their internet connection is performing. The screen will also show what devices are connected and give parental controls for deciding when devices can be connected. Embedded into the router will be access to Starry customer support assistance.

The company wants the router to serve as a hub for the rapidly proliferating “smart home” devices. In addition to WiFi, the router contains Bluetooth and ZigBee radios for connecting to these types of devices.

Kanojia doesn’t anticipate the same kind of regulatory and industry pushback that he got with Aereo. But he doesn’t know how the competition will react. “People don’t like competition, but that’s a different topic,” he said. “Aereo was a different company that was trying to take advantage of regulator openings. Starry is a pure technology company that’s going after a big market.”

Starry’s internet service will first roll out this summer in Boston. It’s already been running technical trials in the area and has demonstrated its method can deliver speeds of a gigabit, Kanojia said. He declined to say how fast the company will build out its services elsewhere. ”We’re not digging up trenches,” Kanojia said. “We’ll have an aggressive timeline.”

The company hasn’t announced how much money it’s raised so far from investors, but listed early investors as FirstMark Capital, Tiger Global, IAC, KKR, HLVP and Quantum Strategic Partners.