Starlink Clarifies India Pricing Glitch: Website Displayed Dummy Data Not Actual Service Costs

Starlink's India website experienced a configuration error that temporarily displayed incorrect pricing information, which the company later clarified was merely "dummy test data."

New Delhi:

Starlink addressed a technical issue on Monday after their India website temporarily showed service pricing information. The company confirmed the glitch has been resolved, emphasizing that "those numbers do not reflect what the cost of Starlink service will be in India."

The brief website malfunction had displayed a monthly service fee of Rs 8,600, along with a hardware kit priced at Rs 34,000 for new subscribers.

Lauren Dreyer, Vice President and Senior Director-Starlink Business Operations at SpaceX, clarified on X: "The Starlink India website is not live, service pricing for customers in India has not yet been announced, and we are not taking orders from customers in India."

She explained, "There was a config glitch that briefly made dummy test data visible, but those numbers do not reflect what the cost of Starlink service will be in India. The glitch was quickly fixed."

Dreyer further expressed the company's enthusiasm about bringing Starlink's high-speed internet to India, stating that "our teams are focused on obtaining final government approvals to turn service (and the website) on."

Starlink promotes several key features including plug-and-play setup, over 99.9 percent uptime, resilience against extreme weather, and unlimited data usage, targeting consumers in areas with unreliable traditional broadband access.

Recent hiring activities suggest Starlink is preparing for its India launch. In late October, SpaceX advertised four Bengaluru-based positions: Payments Manager, Accounting Manager, Senior Treasury Analyst, and Tax Manager, as part of its international expansion strategy.

Previously, the Maharashtra government signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited to deploy satellite internet services for government institutions, rural communities, and critical public infrastructure across remote and underserved regions in Maharashtra, including Gadchiroli, Nandurbar, Dharashiv, and Washim.

The signing ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state Information Technology Minister Ashish Shelar.

CM Fadnavis shared on X: "It was wonderful to welcome Lauren Dreyer, Vice President, Starlink, in Mumbai, where the Government of Maharashtra signed an LoI with Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited, marking Maharashtra as the first Indian state to formally collaborate with Starlink. Elon Musk's Starlink is one of the largest companies in the ICT industry, holding the largest number of communication satellites in the world. It is our honour that the company is arriving in India and partnering with Maharashtra."