Continental Airlines has signed a deal with inflight entertainment provider LiveTV to offer wi-fi to passengers via Ka-band beginning next year.

The company plans to offer the service on more than 200 domestic Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft equipped with DIRECTV(R), providing onboard connectivity and more than 95 channels of live television programming to customers flying within the continental United States.

Ka-band will be able to offer higher transmission speeds for more extensive onboard connection capabilities, including browsing of content-rich websites, sending and receiving e-mails and downloading files.

United Airlines – a wholly own subsidiary of United Continental Holdings - currently offers inflight internet service on 14 aircraft, including on all p.s.(R) flights linking New York Kennedy with Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The company continues to reconfigure United and Continental aircraft with new flat-bed seats in premium cabins - with the new flat-bed product already on 116 aircraft in the combined fleet, more than any other U.S.-based carrier.