Starry will depart Columbus, Ohio, by June

Starry announced on Tuesday that it is pulling its fixed wireless access (FWA) service from Columbus, Ohio. The company had declared its plans to launch services there in June 2021, and has since reached over 350,000 homes, including 3,000 units of affordable housing through its Starry Connect program.

The decision to leave Columbus is the result of a "mutual termination of its strategic alliance agreement with its local partner AEP Ventures, LLC," said Starry in a press release.

According to an SEC filing, under the agreement, Starry's obligations include repurchasing equipment AEP bought from Starry, removing certain equipment and materials from each deployment site and paying AEP $6.2 million to cover outstanding invoices.

Starry's exit from Ohio follows months of upheaval at the FWA startup. Just this month, the company disclosed that it was laying off 100 employees and had terminated a deal to raise $100 million. That came after Starry laid off roughly half its workforce late last year and withdrew from the FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), through which it had been approved to receive nearly $269 million to reach 108,506 locations in nine states.

Starry, which went public last March, officially had its Class A common stock delisted on the New York Stock Exchange as of this month.

In a statement about the company's exit from Columbus, Starry CEO Chet Kanojia said it was "a difficult decision and one that we did not take lightly" but that it will allow the company to expand its footprint in its five core markets of Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Denver and Washington, DC.

According to a press release, Starry's departure from the Columbus market will start in March and wrap up in June. Subscribers will receive "ample" notification that their services are being canceled "and will be provided opportunities to switch to broadband providers serving their area," said Starry.

Starry's stock closed on Tuesday at $0.043, following news of its exit from Columbus, after opening the day at $0.039.

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— Nicole Ferraro, editor, Light Reading, and host of "​​The Divide" podcast.