Broadcom Readying Its First LTE Chip, Which It Claims Will Be Smaller Than Rivals’

After being stuck in 3G land for a while now, Broadcom said it is getting closer to having a modem chip that supports faster LTE networks.

The chip, which it is sampling now and is set for volume production next year, is said to be a third smaller than many rival chips, while supporting all the key standards and technologies. Among its features is support for voice calls over LTE, as well as a feature to bond together different frequencies that a carrier has into one faster pipeline onto the Internet.

“We think it is going to be a winner,” Broadcom CEO Scott McGregor said in an interview.

Thus far, Qualcomm has dominated the LTE market with its chips, though other chipmakers are starting to enter the market.

“Other people have announced some chips that maybe nibble away at the low end of the market,” McGregor said.

By contrast, Broadcom’s goal is to have a product that can go in the highest-end products.

“The real goal here is to create a product that really is a world chip for the flagship smartphones and tablets,” he said.