When a unit of Samsung Electronics Co. appeared arm in arm earlier this year with companies pushing the government to open unused airwaves for inexpensive wireless Internet service, other parts of the South Korean conglomerate were less than pleased.

Samsung (SSNLF) boasts a vast reach into markets ranging from cell phones to televisions. In this instance, that diversity has the company in the odd position of arguing both 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 so-called White Spaces Coalition, including Samsung Electro-Mechanics and others such as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Intel Corp. (INTC) , began lobbying in earnest earlier this year for the Federal Communications Commission to open the white spaces to mobile Internet devices.

But following some internal note-passing, Samsung Electro-Mechanics receded from the public spotlight on the issue. Parent Samsung Electronics then emerged with a lobbying push to counter the White Spaces 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 to the white-spaces issue 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. ...

Sascha Meinrath, research director of the 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.

"Hardware providers are torn between two corporate priorities," Meinrath commented. "On the one hand, they sell equipment and opening up the white spaces would significantly boost their opportunities to sell hardware to consumers. On the other hand, hardware companies sell equipment in partnership with incumbent license holders, and they don't want to [anger] their major clients." ...

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