In-flight Internet access, once considered a passenger luxury, has turned into a customer requirement. And technology companies are brawling in Washington over who gets to lay claim.

As marketplace opportunities increase, a bandwidth battle once limited to the ground has shifted to the air.

“It’s kind of the sky’s the limit on a lot of the options you can provide,” said Travis Christ, chief marketing and sales officer for Row 44, a California-based firm that offers passengers access to live baseball games, CNBC and a host of other networks.

The Federal Communications Commission agreed last month to streamline regulations for satellite-based systems, a next frontier in broadband development. But ground-based companies with plans for further advancements want a slice of the shrinking spectrum pie.

Case in point: Qualcomm, the world’s largest maker of wireless chip devices.

“This could be a great example of spectrum that could be shared to enable a more efficient use,” said Dean Brenner, Qualcomm’s senior vice president for government affairs. The company has asked the FCC to approve a communications service Brenner says would take the current air-to-ground options “to the next level with the same degree of high-speed connectivity we are all used to on the ground.”

Qualcomm has petitioned the FCC to use the 14.0-14.5-GHz band of frequencies, which is currently allocated to fixed satellite services going from Earth to space. The company wants to launch a commercial, two-way mobile service that would use as many as 250 ground stations to transmit and receive communications from aircraft.

The Satellite Industry Association, Boeing and Wi-Fi competitors like Row 44 and Panasonic have pushed against the proposal for more than a year. They say it would interfere with current frequencies and threaten rivals’ in-flight offerings.

“If there’s any disruption to people’s existing business and investments, that’s a harmful outcome we just want to be really careful about,” Row 44’s Christ told POLITICO.

Qualcomm insists this secondary service would not cause a problem and has met with the FCC in early January to press its case. But competing companies fear such a move would set a jarring precedent.

“If the proposal were to move forward, it could potentially result in locking in this type of network architecture,” said Carlos Nalda, a telecommunications lawyer who represents Panasonic.

Airlines, eager for any additional income, love Qualcomm’s proposal. “More and more customers are carrying Wi-Fi-enabled devices, all of which require a high-speed air-ground network to maintain full in-flight connectivity,” United Airlines wrote in a comment to the FCC.

And Gogo, the leading Wi-Fi provider in the U.S., generally supports the proposal because it would open up more spectrum — something upon which it could capitalize. Gogo, which is in the process of becoming a public company, declined to comment. But it told the FCC that the move “offers a rare opportunity for the commission to meet growing consumer demand for improved air-ground data service.”

The terrestrial systems, as the ground-based options are called, often prove cheaper. But they can’t go over the ocean, which limits their use on international flights.

Wi-Fi-enabled planes still aren’t commonplace, although the service has catapulted since Boeing’s failed introduction more than a decade ago.

Costs have dropped and demand has increased in recent years with iPhones’ ubiquitous addition to the pocket. In 2008, Gogo launched an air-to-ground service that meant travelers could catch up on email or update their status for as little as $5. The company has installed the service on 1,800 commercial aircraft and recently announced an agreement with Canada to lease some of its airwaves.

Gogo equips nine airlines, with Delta Air Lines and American Airlines being the largest partners. Panasonic has agreed to outfit more than 300 United and Continental Airlines planes by 2015. And Row 44 has quietly turned into the world’s largest satellite-based Wi-Fi provider with services on three continents and in 400 Southwest Airlines planes. The company plans to add Russia and the trans-Atlantic in the first half of this year.

“It’s timely for airlines too,” Row 44’s Christ said. “They need options to advance.”

Don’t plan to stream the State of the Union just yet. Only about half of America’s major commercial aircraft offer the service. Companies still struggle with large video downloads that take up limited bandwidth. And broke airlines want certainty that customers will pay as much as $40 for such services.

A report last year by the Chaddick Institute found that tablets accounted for 30 percent of all technology use on flights. Airline passengers who opt for Wi-Fi still hover around 10 percent.

To top it off, companies must navigate between two rule-making bodies for approval. While the FCC decides who can offer service, the Federal Aviation Administration determines what goes on the plane.

The close-seat relationship has sparked some elbows. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski last month pushed FAA Administrator Michael Huerta to re-evaluate its restrictions.

“[Mobile phones] empower people to stay informed and connected with friends and family, and they enable both large and small businesses to be more productive and efficient, helping drive economic growth and boost U.S. competitiveness,” he said in a letter, urging the FAA to enable greater use of portable electronic devices.

The FAA has launched a study to review those policies. Cellphones, officials said, remain off the table.

Even if the phones stay silent, advocates see skyrocketing potential.

Gogo, which is expanding its satellite services, has hopes of a creating a game where passengers play each other on different flights. Row 44 anticipates an explosion of connected aircraft around the world. And Qualcomm expects work files to download as quickly as on an office computer.

Electronics market researcher IMS Research predicts more than 15,000 global aircraft will have Wi-Fi connections by 2021, with 3,000 offering Wi-Fi or cellular service by the end of 2012.

“Consumers have ravenously adopted Wi-Fi and cellular services on the ground, and that looks set to continue above 30,000 feet,” Heath Lockett, an aerospace analyst for IMS Research, said when the company released its findings. “The broadband generation demand[s] a service in the air which is similar to that which they receive on the ground, and that’s the real challenge.”

The other challenge: not leaving your phone on the seat.