“White spaces” divide Samsung
SAN FRANCISCO - When a unit of Samsung Electronics appeared arm in arm earlier this year with companies pushing the U.S. government to open unused airwaves for inexpensive wireless Internet service, other parts of the South Korean conglomerate were less than pleased.
Samsung boasts a vast reach into markets ranging from cellphones to televisions. In this instance, that diversity has the company in the odd position of arguing for and against the hot-button notion of tapping unused TV airwaves in the United States, known as “white spaces,” to deliver Internet connections outside the control of traditional telecom and cable-company providers.
The White Spaces Coalition, including Samsung Electro-Mechanics and others such as Microsoft and Intel, began lobbying in earnest this year for the Federal Communications Commission to open the white spaces to mobile Internet devices.
But after internal note-passing, Samsung Electro-Mechanics receded from the spotlight on the issue. Parent Samsung Electronics then began lobbying to counter the coalition’s effort, based on fears that devices using the white spaces could interfere with reception on the company’s other products, such as TVs.
Samsung’s convoluted approach demonstrates the uncertainties that diversified tech giants face as they move into an era when the Internet is crossing boundaries and becoming accessible through a variety of new means and devices.
“[At] these gigantic companies, there are different divisions that have different agendas,” said Samir Bhavnani, research director with Current Analysis West. “Everyone is trying to hit their number, so sometimes you end up with situations like this.”
Samsung Electro-Mechanics features “the backroom guys,” responsible for developing company components and chips, Bhavnani said. Samsung Electronics, for its part, is best known for digital TVs and other popular consumer products.
Though the parent may fear interference with TV reception, Samsung Electro-Mechanics stands to benefit from the potential surge in demand for chips to power mobile devices, should the white spaces open up.
The FCC is expected to soon begin further testing of prototypes submitted by the White Spaces Coalition, meant to prove devices using white spaces won’t interfere with other broadcast signals. Coalition members expect the FCC to decide on the matter as soon as next month.
John Godfrey, vice president of government and public affairs at Samsung Information Systems America, called Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ involvement with the coalition unfortunate. He said the unit has not publicly sided with the coalition for some months.
A person familiar with the matter, however, said Samsung Electro-Mechanics remains a coalition member, contributing to planning and strategy. A South Korea-based representative from Samsung Electro-Mechanics did not respond to requests for comment.
In a document filed with the FCC in April, White Spaces Coalition members including Samsung Electro-Mechanics assured the agency “new and innovative white-spaces devices” won’t interfere with other broadcast signals.
In a subsequent filing in May, Samsung Electronics countered that interference from such devices with TV reception is a real concern, adding that “significantly more testing is necessary before the commission should permit unlicensed uses of the white spaces by personal/portable devices.”
While Godfrey acknowledged that using mobile devices in the white spaces could be a boon for consumers, he said the FCC’s testing hasn’t been encouraging. In late July, the FCC returned subpar results for a white-spaces testing device submitted by Microsoft. The company later said the device had been damaged.
“It’s a pretty risky approach, and testing so far does not give us confidence that it works,” Godfrey said.
Rather than devices that can automatically sense existing broadcast signals and avoid them, such as the white-spaces coalition is promoting, he said that he’d prefer to see devices tied to “control systems,” which would more strictly govern their transmissions.
Samsung’s reticence about the use of white spaces is understandable, Bhavnani, said. “They don’t want any [TV] customers to have any bad experiences.”
But at the same time, the potential upside in having its chips proliferate throughout a new generation of mobile devices is considerable.
In that sense, Samsung sees the same potential in the white spaces as fellow coalition member and chip-maker Intel.
That’s because unlike the current cellphone arrangements, the use of unlicensed spectrum such as white spaces could let consumers choose from a wider array of devices outside of the control of wireless carriers, and use them to get Internet service from a broader, more accessible set of existing airwaves.
The white-spaces effort is not the only high-profile effort to expand Web access by shifting the spectrum paradigm. Coalition member Google, for example, also has pressed the FCC to make a chunk of valuable licensed spectrum up for auction in January open to software applications and devices outside of traditional wireless carriers’ control.
Sascha Meinrath, research director of the Wireless Future Program at the New America Foundation, a public-policy institute, said that it’s not surprising that a company like Samsung would be conflicted over the white-spaces issue.
“On the one hand, they sell equipment, and opening up the white spaces would significantly boost their opportunities to sell hardware to consumers,” Meinrath said. “On the other hand, hardware companies sell equipment in partnership with incumbent license holders, and they don’t want to [anger] their major clients.”
Not all hardware companies seem to be conflicted over white spaces, though Philips Electronics is a vocal coalition member although it has a digital-TV business as well.
Paul Simonetti, of Philips Electronics North America, said the company shares Samsung’s concerns related to TV reception interference but not its mixed feelings about the technical capability of white-spaces devices.
“We would never promote the use of a device or a service that would permit the disruption of service,” he added.