Wi-Fi Passpoint standard could end hotspot sign-on hassles

As mobile data use dramatically grows, carriers want to move their subscribers to Wi-Fi hotspots to ease the burden on their cellular networks. Wi-Fi can also improve data capacity in indoor spaces where traditional "macro" cell networks don't reach. But subscribers typically can't move on and off those networks as easily as they roam from one cell tower to another. Infrastructure vendors and other mobile players are trying to make Wi-Fi an integral part of carrier networks, and next week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona will showcase many new products in this area.

"It's going to be there for the long term," said analyst Peter Jarich of Current Analysis. "It's going to be a part of the way operators look at their networks, looking forward." As evidence of that trend, cellular network giant Ericsson announced Tuesday it would acquire BelAir Networks, a privately held Canadian maker of Wi-Fi gear.

Wi-Fi Certified Passpoint is an attempt at a standard set of tools for interoperability among access points and client devices from different vendors. On the strength of the Alliance's widely recognized logo programs for basic Wi-Fi, security, multimedia and other functions, it could transform the way consumers see -- or don't see -- Wi-Fi hotspots.