Nothing like accidentally publishing your test data to the entire internet. Elon Musk's satellite internet company Starlink had a bit of an oops moment Monday when its website briefly displayed what looked like official pricing for India before anyone was supposed to see it.
For a short window, the site showed residential satellite internet service in India priced at ₹8,600 (roughly $95) per month, with a hardware kit running ₹34,000 ($378). The package included unlimited data, a 30-day trial, and weather-resilient service promising "higher than 99.9% uptime." Sounds pretty official, right?
The 'Dummy Data' Defense
Not so fast, says Starlink VP Lauren Dreyer. She hopped on X Monday to explain that a "config glitch" briefly exposed dummy test data that didn't reflect actual service costs. The company quickly corrected the error.
"We're eager to connect the people of India with Starlink's high-speed internet, and our teams are focused on obtaining final government approvals to turn service (and the website) on," she added.
The India Opportunity
The stakes are enormous. India's space regulator granted Starlink the license to launch commercial operations back in July. During a recent chat with Indian entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath, Musk said the company would be thrilled to launch service in India.
Starlink, which is part of Musk's rocket company SpaceX, has already inked deals with Bharti Airtel and Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms Ltd., the country's two largest telecom networks, earlier this year to offer internet services.
According to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the country had 999.81 million broadband subscribers at the end of October. That's essentially a billion potential customers.
The company, which delivers high-speed internet using low-Earth orbit satellites, will compete with Jio-SES and Eutelsat's OneWeb in India. For context, Starlink charges U.S. customers about $120 monthly plus roughly $349 for hardware, while most Indian broadband plans run ₹500-1,000 per month. The leaked pricing would put Starlink at a premium to local options, but potentially competitive for users needing satellite coverage.