GSMA wants you to be perpetually connected via WiFi hotspots

Most people have a routine everyday and while you are at the places you have to be at, you can be connected to a WiFi hotspot instead of using up your data plan. Getting the connection details  for any restaurant, pub, coffee house, office even can be a real pain and it is based on this that the GSMA (the folks who invented the GSM standard and organize MWC) have announced that they are going to collaborate with the Wireless Broadband Alliance to come up with a solution that will enable your mobile device to connect automatically to a hotspot without you having to do anything.

The element which will be used to authenticate your connection will no longer be a password as we understand it but your SIM card, so it should not matter what device you are using. Sounds like an interesting idea, however the GSMA didn’t reveal how long it may take to take that concept and apply it on a reality based scenario.

Based on what has been said here about the concept of perpetual WiFi hotspot connection, two of Stefan’s (from IntoMobile) suggestions while entertaining, also make sense. The first one he mentioned was to somehow incorporate the use of NFC which will be the direction that most mobile phones will be heading in anyway. He mentions a scenario where you enter a restaurant, and are seated. Just by tapping your device on the counter, the WiFi hotspot will connect for a certain period of time, which frankly is a very good idea.

His second suggestion is more of an observation and it does contain a kernel of truth. We are already constantly dealing with battery life on smartphones and once GSMA’s concept does in fact come to reality, your phone would probably die within two hours as it would be constantly scanning for the strongest WiFi signal around you. If you were to take a walk around a business area near where you work, your phone would probably already be dead by the time you reached your desk. Please let us know what you think about the idea that GSMA is thinking about and how would you use the concept?