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    United becomes the first US airline to offer intercontinental internet with satellite-based Wi-Fi

    United becomes the first US airline to offer intercontinental internet with satellite-based Wi-Fi

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    United Airlines jet
    United Airlines jet

    In-flight WI-Fi on domestic flights is old news — most airlines in the US have been offering it for years. Some international airlines have even offered it on overseas flights, but now United is the first American airline to do so. The company announced on Tuesday that it has installed Wi-Fi service in a Boeing 747-400 that flies over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The satellite-based service, which uses Panasonic Avionics Corporation’s Ku-band technology, is said to offer faster connection speeds than the air-to-ground service used on domestic flights. United says that it has also equipped two Airbus 319 planes that fly domestic routes with the Ku-band satellite technology, and that it plans to add the satellite-based Wi-Fi to 300 of its aircraft by the end of this year. Plans for the service range from $3.99 per flight on up to $19.99 per flight, depending on length of the flight and how fast of a connection you want to pay for.