The proposed onboard airline broadband service will hit the runway May 10 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to auction off spectrum for a high-flying Internet connection.

The FCCs proposal calls for new spectrum licenses in three possible band plan configurations, with the ultimate configuration to be determined on the results of the auction. In all, the FCC plans to sell 4MHz of spectrum in the 800MHz band.

More than a year ago, the FCC stirred up a minor controversy when it proposed both broadband service and individual cell phone use on U.S. commercial flights. The May auction involves only spectrum for broadband use.

In order to promote competition in the air-ground band, the FCC is prohibiting any party from obtaining a controlling interest in new licenses for more than 3MHz of spectrum (either shared or exclusive) in the band.

Under that plan, no single party may hold more than one license in any of the available band configurations.

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