Broadcom buys 4G firm Beceem for $316m

US chipset vendor Broadcom on Wednesday announced the acquisition of Beceem Communications, provider of a 4G platform supporting both LTE and WiMAX networks. Broadcom will pay approximately $316m for the firm.

The company intends to integrate Beceem’s 4G technology with its own 3G/2G cellular solutions, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, GPS, Ethernet switching and other associated IP, to accelerate the availability of highly integrated, lower cost 4G wireless broadband devices.

Beceem recently announced a 4G multimode platform that can support both LTE and WiMAX networks, supporting peak broadband download speeds of up to 200Mbps.