Public areas at housing complex get free Wi-Fi

Residents at the Ausonia Apartments, a senior and disabled resident public housing development in the North End, now have free access to high-speed internet, the first of what is expected to be many public housing developments with free Wi-Fi.

“We think connectivity can drive a lot of positive growth and it should not be limited to rich areas,” said Chet Kanojia, chief executive of Starry, a Boston-based internet provider that is providing the service and equipment for free. “For any population, it’s basically a utility these days.”

A partnership between Starry and the Boston Housing Authority will bring free Wi-Fi to common areas at the Ausonia Apartments.

Starry is offering the service and installation entirely free to residents and the city.

“Certainly if this goes well we would be interested in having it occur in other housing developments,” said Lydia Agro, the BHA’s chief of staff. “We get a lot of requests both at our family developments and senior and disabled developments.”

The Ausonia Apartments service went live yesterday. Kanojia said his company hopes to expand the service to other developments in Boston and beyond.

“Hopefully as we go to other cities, it’s a template we can take to other cities,” he said.

Starry said it will likely announce additional services, including paid services, for residents of public housing later this year.

The partnership is part of the city’s longtime efforts to make high-speed internet access affordable to everyone in Boston. Even now, the city says, 20 percent of Boston residents don’t have broadband internet at home.

“People being able to access economic opportunities, starting new businesses,” said Anne Schwieger, the city’s Broadband and Digital Equity Advocate “It’s important to everything we care about as a city.”