Is it possible the days of stowing away the laptop on board your domestic flight are over? We have all heard the instructions that such devices have to be shut down so as not to interfere with the pilot’s radio communications. Now, according to an Electronic360 report, Verizon (News - Alert) may be offering a solution.

United Airlines and Verizon have partnered to provide domestic in-flight WiFi access. Reportedly, the FAA has granted United permission to add the hardware to their aircraft. Now that this step has been completed, the last obstacle to full launch is FCC (News - Alert) approval, which the airline expects to have in the next several months.

The industry anticipates the FCC’s plans to hold an air-to-ground spectrum auction where service rights and frequencies will be awarded to WiFi (News - Alert) service providers. The big unknown is still pricing, which could make or break the success of the launch.

"Our research shows that connecting to the Internet is customers' most preferred form of communication to the ground, and this certification is a crucial step to bring this in-flight wireless access to our customers," said Dennis Cary, United's senior vice president-Marketing, in Electronic360. "We are thrilled by this accomplishment and proud to lead the industry in North America with Verizon Airfone in this endeavor."

To date, United has only received approval from the FAA is use the equipment in their B757-200 fleet. As little equipment is needed to make this happen, however, United anticipates that FAA approval of the 802.11b/g network on other aircraft should be relatively easy to obtain.

Once final approval is received from the FCC, United will be in position to ramp up the service to their customers rather quickly. While the airline is dependent upon the timing of the FCC, it is expected the airline could offer the service as early as next year.

Lufthansa already offers the service and charges $29.95 for an entire international flight, or $9.95 for a half hour. Business travelers are sure to be excited about this announcement and could be a key driver for Verizon and United in appealing to the business class.

With so much revenue potential, you may be asking – where is AT&T (News - Alert) in their plans to become airborne? My money is on, “not very far behind.” At the same time, AT&T still has some network bugs to work out to handle so much traffic on their network. Considering they still “own” the iPhone (News - Alert), their business may be better served to continue with that focus.

Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Kelly McGuire