A system for automatically controlling the scanning frequency of a radio based positioning application in a wireless communication device (WCD) based on the connection point information of the WCD. The connection point information may be utilized to identify if the WCD is near a positioning-enabled environment. Scanning may be activated, or the scanning frequency may be increased, when the WCD is in an environment that is served by certain connection points (e.g., connection points located in a city). On the other hand, when the WCD is in an environment that is not served by certain connection points (e.g., a rural area), scanning may be stopped or the scanning frequency may be reduced to conserve power in the mobile device.