Live television and e-mail to be offered on domestic flights by Continental Airlines

Airline Industry Information,  Jan 30, 2008  

Tags: Continental Airlines Inc., e-mail, TV

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AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2008 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) has announced that it has entered into an agreement with LiveTV L.L.C. enabling the carrier to offer 36 channels of live, inflight satellite-based television programming provided by satellite television provider, DIRECTV, at every seat on its new generation aircraft.

The airline said that it expects to offer the new service on flights operating within the continental US from January 2009.

In addition the carrier also announced that it is to launch onboard Wi-Fi services including e-mail and instant messaging connectivity offered by LiveTV. Customers will be able to use the service with Wi-Fi enabled smartphones, BlackBerries and laptops.

A variety of programming from DIRECTV will be offered by the carrier, including sports, news, weather, children's programming and general entertainment. Access to the system will be free of charge to all first-class customers, whilst economy-class customers will be able to access the system by paying a USD6 access fee.

Continental will offer complimentary Wi-Fi connectivity services allowing customers to access e-mail and instant messaging subject to LiveTV being able to offer the service, which is still in the testing phase.

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