Twitter Blue subscription with verification may launch in India in ‘less than a month’

Twitter may extend its subscription service to India in “less than a month,” its owner and chief executive Elon Musk said, offering a glimpse at just how aggressively he plans to roll out Twitter Blue to the larger world.

Twitter launched Twitter Blue in four markets — US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — last year. The Elon Musk-owned firm plans to launch a revamped version of the subscription service in those four markets on Monday.

Musk has ramped up Twitter Blue’s offerings, promising a verified checkmark to anyone who subscribes, among other features, including long form video content and having to sift through fewer ads. Those who already have the verified checkmark will need to subscribe to Twitter Blue over the coming months to retain it, Musk said in another tweet.

He has previously said that Twitter Blue, which is priced at $7.99 a month in the U.S., will be more affordable in some countries to account for local purchase parity.

“Power to the people,” Twitter’s iOS app update note said in anticipation of Monday rollout. “Your account will get a blue checkmark, just like the celebrities, businesses, and politicians you already follow.”

Musk is betting on turning the subscription service into a major revenue driver for Twitter, which he acquired last month for $44 billion — $13 billion of which he lent from banks. Musk needs to pay more than $1 billion a year in interest payments.

The company this week laid off roughly half the company’s workforce, or about 3,700 jobs.

In a series of tweets over the weekend, Musk offered a few more updates on Twitter Blue. He claimed the company “can beat” YouTube’s ad-revenue split to creators, and that fixing the search functionality on Twitter “is a high priority” for the firm.

Twitter will soon allow users to attach long-form texts to tweets, he said. Many users who have wished to post longer texts have over the years posted screenshots of texts written on a note app. Musk said the new revamp will end such “absurdity.”