Elon Musk recently took to X to apologize for his internet provider, Starlink’s, global outage that left thousands without internet for several hours.
What is Starlink?
Starlink is an internet service provider, founded by billionaire businessman, Elon Musk. It broke the record by being the world’s first and largest low-orbit satellite and it currently provides internet networks to around 130 countries.
It delivers broadband internet, which is capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls, etc,.
With its aim to provide internet to even the most remote areas of the world, it currently has more than 6 million users.
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What Happened?
On Thursday before 4p.m, thousands of users took to the Down Detector website and complained about an internet outage, with 65 percent claiming a “total blackout.”
At 9 p.m, Starlink also posted on X to inform about the outage, and said that they were actively working on a solution.
Following this, Musk apologized for the outage, reassuring frustrated users that the matter will be resolved soon.
He shared Starlink’s message, writing: “”Service will be restored shortly. Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
The Internet’s Reaction:
Many users took to X, to share their opinions.
One user commented “the only downfall to Starlink is when it goes down, your only alternative is your phone network”.
Many were frustrated, as the lack of internet connection hindered their work, and caused them to miss important meetings.
“I couldn’t attend a meeting, now I’m in serious trouble. You owe us a refund,” shared one user.
For some, the situation got even worse, and they were fired from their jobs.
Another user commented: “You guys gonna reimburse us for this massive outage that’s got me kicked out of work?”
However, many people praised Starlink for its prompt service regarding informing users about the outage, unlike other service providers.
“Wow!! Never seen Comcast, ATT, Verizon, etc have such incredible customer service, let alone from ownership. Elon rocks!”
Users also praised Elon Musk, while some prompted others to stop complaining.
“Starlink, huge company. Brief outage and the owner and CEO immediately apologises for the interruption and reports to the public that service will soon be restored” commented a user.
“This is the first time in a year Starlink has been down,” said a second user, adding: “Stop complaining about a refund for 1 hour or whatever it will be lol. You really going to complain about 1 hour or $0.17 of service?”
And a third wrote: “It is wild people are complaining about #Starlink going down for the first ever. We get internet through the air from machines flying through space. We all could use some gratitude and perspective.”
When Did the Issue Get Resolved?
The issue persisted for several hours, and at around 8.15 p.m ET on Thursday, Starlink’s official X account posted that the issue has been resolved and apologized again for the inconvenience it caused.
“The network issue has been resolved, and Starlink service has been restored,”
“We understand how important connectivity is and apologize for the disruption.”
More about Starlink:
It has launched more than 8000 satellites since 2020 and due to its low-orbit position, it has the capability to provide internet to many unreachable, remote places.
Therefore, it has great demand from militaries and rural areas.
With its growing popularity, it recently updated its network to provide higher speed and greater bandwidth.
In partnership with T-mobile, Starlink, eventually aims to expand and provide direct-to-cell messages, after which users in remote areas will be able to send emergency text messages.
