Starry taps new CEO as it eyes bankruptcy exit

Starry has installed a new CEO as the fixed wireless access (FWA) service operator prepares to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy this summer and push ahead with a plan to become profitable over the next 18 months.

Starry announced Tuesday that Alex Moulle-Berteaux, a company founder and former chief operating officer, has been named CEO effective immediately. Moulle-Berteaux succeeds fellow Starry founder and former CEO Chet Kanojia. Both Moulle-Berteaux and Kanojia will also join the board of Starry's new private holding company following its exit from the Chapter 11 reorg.

"I am looking forward to staying engaged and involved as a board member, as I turn my energies and focus on my family," Kanojia said in a statement.

Starry filed for a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in February, aiming to significantly reduce its debt while also keeping its FWA-powered broadband services operating in five core US markets: Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Denver and Washington, DC. That move followed a string of layoffs, a halt to a once-aggressive network expansion plan and a decision to shut down services in Columbus, Ohio.

A Delaware bankruptcy court approved Starry's plan on May 26. When Starry gets approval from the FCC and the SEC and completes its bankruptcy exit, the newly private company, which will also take over the formerly publicly held company's spectrum licenses, will be owned by a lender group led by Denver-based ArrowMark Partners.

Depending on the speed of the regulatory process, Starry could emerge from bankruptcy in late July or early August, Moulle-Berteaux said. "It's not a rubber-stamp, but it should be a relatively straightforward approval process from an FCC and SEC perspective," he added.

Moulle-Berteaux said working through the process, which included reductions of staff and other cost-cutting, was "not easy." But he's looking forward to seeing Starry move forward as a leaner, smaller and private company.

"I've basically spent the last six months stabilizing the company, reducing the cost structure and ensuring that we were continuing to deliver high-quality service for our customers and then setting ourselves up for regrowth," Moulle-Berteaux said. "The last year has been incredibly hard for the company as capital markets basically disappeared. We're at a point now where the hardest part is behind us."

Starry currently employs about 300 people, down from a height of about 1,000 in 2022, when the company was still pursuing an aggressive expansion initiative.

Starry had about 91,000 subscribers at the end of the third quarter of 2022.

Focus on profitability

The company will now concentrate on serving and growing its five core US markets and its pursuit of profitability. The "ideal" for Starry to reach that profitability is 18 months or less, Moulle-Berteaux said.

"We really have a great path to refresh the business and the company and go after what we think is still a great opportunity, which is that there's not enough competition in urban markets," he added.

Starry might explore additional funding for future market expansions, but not during this pre-profitability period.

Starry's network covers roughly 5 million housing units, with about 75%, or 3.9 million, that are currently viewed as serviceable. Starry's network serves about 500,000 building units today, with a primary focus on apartments and other multiple-dwelling units (MDUs). Starry used its "Comet" receivers to deliver service to some single-family homes in the Columbus market, but for now the company will target MDUs with ten units or more.

"We have plenty of network to hit that profitability [goal] ... There's plenty of building and penetration opportunity where we've built the network," Moulle-Berteaux said, noting that Starry's still only covering less than 30% of major markets such as Los Angeles and New York City.

Product updates

Starry will also continue to focus on broadband tiers and speeds that offer a solid downstream/upstream ratio, believing that gives Starry an advantage over cable – at least before cable operators complete upgrades that will beef up upstream speeds.

Among recent moves, Starry introduced a new 300 Mbit/s down by 150 Mbit/s upstream tier for $60 per month, a tier that complements its $50-per-month 200 Mbit/s by 100 Mbit/s service. Starry also expects to expand the reach of its 1-Gig and 500-Meg products throughout the year, Moulle-Berteaux said.

Meanwhile, Starry has rolled out a way for customers to self-upgrade their speed tiers using the Starry app or by accessing their accounts online.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading