Opinion | Riding Dirt-Cheap Data, India’s Internet Moment Arrived Long Before Elon Musk

India's internet moment arrived nearly a decade ago. The white man with a big saviour complex is trying to catch up, but a bit too late.

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The most audacious claim by Elon Musk in the course of his rant against the Indian government and business leader Mukesh Ambani is that he would provide cheap and fast internet to the “least-served" in India.

People who oppose @Starlink hurt only the least-served.The wealthy or those living in large cities already have good Internet, so they don’t understand.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 8, 2026

People who oppose @Starlink hurt only the least-served.The wealthy or those living in large cities already have good Internet, so they don’t understand.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 8, 2026

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India’s least-served in villages and small towns, meanwhile, are video-calling their migrant sons and daughters in the cities for hours each week, and clandestinely consuming hours of ribald micro-drama with the surplus data.

The effective cost of mobile data in India is now about Rs 800-900 (USD 8.3-9.3) per 100GB, down from over Rs 28,000 (USD 290) in 2014, according to figures from India’s telecom ministry.........

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