TORONTO — Lufthansa has just announced a game changer in both aviation and telecommunications. Starting in 2017, the German carrier will trial the “world’s fastest” broadband connectivity on their flights, which will allow passengers to stay connected at incredibly fast speeds 35,000 feet above ground.

This is made possible thanks to a partnership between British satellite company Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom. The service will boast a peak speed of 75 megabits per second; in comparison, super-fast fiber broadband in some cities only peak at 30 megabits.

As reported by CNN, Inmarsat will be launching the world’s first commercial satellite and ground system called the European Aviation Network, which will be a hybrid between the two technologies currently used for in-flight connectivity.

Lufthansa currently offers connectivity on their flights via FlyNet, an Internet portal that uses WLAN via the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). But with this new technology, passengers will be able to use their smartphones onboard flights at the same speed – or faster – in the air as they do on the ground.