Tenzing, which offers airplane email access, will offer an onboard WLAN for Emirates Airlines: The service will use planes' existing 2.4 Kbps satellite connection so will only allow passengers to send and receive email, not Web surf. Tenzing says that limitation will make the service less expensive for passengers--around $20 for a long-haul flight compared to Connexion By Boeing's $30 for similar flights. Users must download a client before they take off and the service will support most POP3 accounts and some corporate VPNs.
This isn't an extremely attractive offering. If someone is willing to pay $20 to use email onboard, they're likely willing to pay $30 to reach the Internet and use any email. Plus, it's a hassle to have to download a client before you take off.