Boeing Internet Unit Is New Spectrum Tenant

The Boeing Co. said Monday it has leased two buildings in the Irvine Spectrum and moved 300 employees there from its Anaheim facilities to work on developing high-speed Internet services for air passengers. Terms were not disclosed.

The five-year lease for a combined 98,000 square feet off Laguna Canyon Road was made to accommodate a growing work force at its Connexion by Boeing unit, said Terrance Scott, a company spokesman.

Connexion is designing a satellite-based network to allow passengers to plug their laptops into connections at their seats and use the Internet to send and receive data or e-mail. The program is expected to be available late this year, or early next year, Scott said.