Report: Carrier set to unveil plans to be 1st U.S. airline to offer passengers wireless net service.

June 6, 2005: 9:12 AM EDT

Reports say United is set to announce plans to provide wireless Internet service to passengers by 2006.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - United Airlines is set to announce plans Monday to become the first U.S. carrier to provide wireless Internet connections for its passengers, according to published reports.

But the Wall Street Journal and New York Times report that United and Verizon Airfone, a unit of Verizon Communications (Research), will not be able to provide the service before 2006.

The Journal reports that the two companies demonstrated last week they could send wireless data from the air to the ground without disrupting the plane`s navigational tools. On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration gave them approval to start installing the necessary equipment, but only on United`s fleet of B757-200 jets, according to the Journal.

The paper also points out that the service will only work in U.S. airspace. International flights will have to rely on a different system, perhaps the satellite Internet service now offered by Boeing (Research), which is used by Lufthansa, Japan Airlines and other carriers.

Another hurdle, the Journal reports, is that later this year or in early 2006, the Federal Communications Commission plans to auction off licenses for the frequencies necessary to transmit data between airplanes and the ground. United can`t offer the service until winning bidders for the licenses are determined.

That FCC auction could eventually allow in-flight cell phone service for passengers, in addition to Internet connections.

United, whose parent, UAL Corp. (Research), is trying to emerge from bankruptcy, plans to charge for the Internet service, but a spokesman told the Times a price for that service has yet to be set.

For a look at FCC`s plans for cell phone and Internet connections for airline passengers, click here.