Broadcom came right out and said it in the first line of its announcement to buy Beceem Communications for $316 million in cash ‘ it plans to get into multimode LTE WiMAX handsets.
So far Beceem’s chips have been used in most of the devices delivered to use on Clearwire’s US WIMAX network, and what with all the speculation that one day Clearwire will inevitably move to LTE, the need for a multimode chip has become obvious. Such a chip could be used around the world where over five hundred WiMAX networks have sprung up in territories which will eventually also have LTE built over the same area.
Beceem had carved out this niche for itself and launched the industry’s first 4G multimode platform supporting both LTE and WiMAX, with peak download speeds of up to 200Mbps.
In buying Beceem this takes Broadcom further along its self-proclaimed aim of getting deeper into cellular chip making. Broadcom already supplies many auxiliary chips into cellular handsets such as WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS and has a fledgling 2G/3G arm which gets some business from Nokia.
According to the Global Semiconductor Alliance, 132 operators in 56 countries are investing in and are expected to deploy LTE, while WiMAX has already been deployed in over 550 networks in 148 countries.
“The combination of Beceem and Broadcom creates a leader in providing multimode wireless connectivity solutions to service providers and equipment manufacturers around the world,” said Scott Bibaud, Broadcom’s Executive Vice President & General Manager of the Mobile Platforms Group.
Broadcom says the acquisition of Beceem will be neutral to earnings in 2011 and the boards of directors of both companies have already approved the merger. The transaction should close in Broadcom’s fourth quarter.