Hotspot 2.0 or Hotspot Oh.No: My Carrier Wi-Fi Experience at MWC

Posted on March 7, 2014

Wi-Fi—and its Carrier Wi-Fi subset—has become a critical component of mobile network operator strategy.  Carrier Wi-Fi has undergone several redefinitions, but the next generation vision focuses on Hotspot 2.0, also known as “Passpoint.” Theoretically, Hotspot 2.0 provides a seamless connection experience for smartphones by utilizing the SIM card for authentication and leveraging 802.11u to advertise services and roaming partner availability at a particular hotspot. Hotspot 2.0 has been slow to gain traction, and it’s generally been complex to deploy.  Given this history, I was excited to hear that Hotspot 2.0-enabled services would be made available at Mobile World Congress (MWC)—the yearly Telecoms industry confab held in Barcelona’s Fira Gran Via—and that I would be able to roam seamlessly using my AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4, one of the first Passpoint-certified handsets. I was looking forward to just turning on my phone and connecting; however… Here’s what actually happened. Prior to arriving at the show, I set my Galaxy S4 for “Passpoint” mode.  On arriving at the Fira, my phone couldn’t find any surrounding Passpoint hotspots, so I opened up the Wi-Fi settings and took a look around.  These were the two hotspots I could see in my phone’s scan list: I…