Coming soon, live TV at 30,000ft

Airline passengers will soon be able to watch live TV while at 30,000ft after mobile satellite company Inmarsat spent $1.2bn on the latest broadband satellite technology.

Inmarsat has ordered three satellites from Boeing.

Andrew Sukawaty, chief executive, said: "Broadband growth and demand is a world phenomena. We are delivering where other networks don't go, on land, sea and air.

"We've been in these remote areas for 31 years and it's natural for us to deliver this next-generation satellite system."

The satellites, which will be up and running by 2014, will able to deliver 50-megabyte speeds to ships and planes, compared to the current maximum of 0.5Mb.

The satellites will also be able to deliver 10Mb speeds to devices the size an Apple iPad anywhere in the world.

"Anything you can do with a laptop, iPad or iPhone, you will be able to do while climbing a mountain or stuck out in the desert," Sukawaty said.