The big picture: why your landlord might soon be pushing Verizon
For years, the battle for your home internet was fought through cables in the ground. Laying fiber is expensive and slow, which is why your choices have likely been limited to the local cable company and maybe a DSL provider. But 5G and fixed wireless access (FWA) have completely changed the game. Companies like Verizon can now use their existing cellular networks to beam fast internet directly to a receiver on your building, skipping the costly last-mile fiber installation.
A three-horse race for your Wi-Fi
Verizon announced last week that it was acquiring Starry. | Image credit — Verizon
Of course, Verizon isn’t operating in a vacuum. This move is a direct response to the massive success of its chief rival, T-Mobile. For the past few years, T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet has been a runaway success story. They made it incredibly simple: a flat fee, no contracts, no data caps, and a gateway you can set up yourself in 15 minutes
It’s an almost perfect product for renters who value flexibility and hate dealing with technicians and surprise fees. T-Mobile proved that a huge number of people are ready and willing to ditch their cable company for a wireless alternative, and they’ve been adding hundreds of thousands of subscribers every quarter.
The problem is, this intense competition at the top is fueling a consolidation frenzy. It’s not just Verizon buying Starry. T-Mobile has also been investing in and acquiring regional fiber companies to bolster its own network. All three of the big mobile carriers are on the hunt, snapping up smaller, independent ISPs to absorb their infrastructure and customer lists. Each acquisition removes one more local or regional competitor from the board, pushing us closer to a reality where the only players left are the Big Three.
The illusion of choice is getting thinner
This is where it gets a bit messy for apartment dwellers. The core of the issue is that while the FCC has rules against landlords signing deals that give one ISP exclusive access to a building, there are plenty of loopholes. A landlord can sign an exclusive marketing agreement, or a bulk-billing deal where every resident has to pay for a specific service as part of their rent. I’ve been in that situation myself.
It is because I’ve seen before how this plays out that this scenario has me worried. With Verizon now owning a specialist like Starry, it’s easy to imagine them offering a very sweet deal to a property management company to make Verizon’s service the “preferred” or default provider. They can dress it up as a convenience for residents. Something like “internet included with your rent!”, but in reality, it kills choice.
For example, if you’re a T-Mobile customer and want to bundle your home internet, or if you prefer a local fiber provider, you could be out of luck.
We’re trading one set of gatekeepers (the cable companies) for another (the mobile carriers). While the technology is new and the marketing is slick, the end result could be the same: a duopoly or triopoly that leaves consumers with little real power. The small, innovative ISPs that often provide fantastic service are being squeezed out or bought up. And for those living in apartment complexes, where the landlord holds the ultimate power over building access, the walls are closing in. It feels like it’s only a matter of time before our internet provider is chosen for us before we even sign the lease.
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