NEW YORK (AP) -- Boeing Co. today announced plans to install special phone jacks in the armrests on airplanes to allow travelers to connect to the Internet with laptop computers, check e-mail and watch television.

Boeing expects to begin installing the new service at the end of next year. Initially the service would only be available on flights over North America, but the company hopes to make the service available in flights over oceans and other areas.

Boeing enlisted several partners in the venture, to be called Connexion by Boeing, including CNN, CNBC, and two Japanese electronics makers, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Matsushita Avionics Systems Corp.

The service would cost about the same as cellular phone service, and would also be available for private business jets, Boeing said. It would rely on existing satellites and new antennas to be installed in aircraft.