The prospect of fast Internet connections aboard U.S. commercial airline flights moved ahead on Friday when JetBlue Airways Corp. and another company won licenses for airborne communications services.

LiveTV LLC, a subsidiary of the low-cost airline JetBlue which tries to lure customers with on board satellite television service, won a 1 megahertz wireless license with a bid of $7 million.

The larger 3 megahertz license was won by AC BidCo with its bid of $31.3 million. That company has ties to AirCell Inc., which designs and sells airborne communications systems, and to private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC.

JetBlue declined to comment on its auction victory and a representative for AC BidCo was not immediately available for comment.

The companies are expected to offer travelers any kind of communications service, like voice communications, Internet access or e-mail while in flight. The licenses granted by the Federal Communications Commission require that the companies provide "substantial service" to aircraft within five years.

The current user of the airwaves, Verizon Communications' Airfone unit, dropped out early in the FCC auction that started on May 10. Airfone's phone service aboard commercial planes has not done well because of high fees for use, and it must give up the airwaves in May 2010.

Still, the market for Internet in the skies could be lucrative. The Federal Aviation Administration says major and regional U.S. airlines boarded 669 million people in 2005, up 6.6 percent.

Some airlines already offer Internet service on overseas flights. Boeing Co. offers a satellite-based Internet service known as Connexion on foreign carriers like Germany's Lufthansa.

The Federal Communications Commission raised a total of $38.3 million after 144 rounds and there were no more bids. Proceeds will go into the U.S. Treasury.

However, the new licenses will not mean travelers can soon use their cell phones in the air. The FCC and FAA are still weighing whether to permit that.

"The FCC further notes that whatever the outcome of its proceeding examining the FCC ban on the use of wireless telephones on airplanes, the use of wireless telephones on board

airplanes will remain subject to FAA's safety regulation and airline carrier policies," the agency said.

The FCC's rules for the new licenses were silent on whether consumers could use the fast Web connections for Internet-based telephone services like Vonage Holdings Corp. during flights.