This morning Broadcom announced the industry’s smallest 4G LTE modem. The product ships with a set of advanced capabilities that offer improved support for high end phones and tablets, which leverage the newest networking technologies on the market.  It’s an important development for Broadcom as the chip maker takes advantage of the booming mobile market to further its long term goals.

The BCM2189 includes LTE FDD and TDD Advanced CAT to enable download speeds of 150Mbp, and uploads up to 51Mbps. it offers support for a wide variety of modern protocols including VoLTE and HD Voice, HSPA+, EDGE / GSM and even the TD-SCDMA standard used in Chinese markets.  Another major feature of the model is carrier aggregation, a means for telecoms to combine frequencies in order to boost internet speed.

According to Broadcom, the BCM2189 is 35 percent smaller than alternative products from the nearest competitor. It doesn’t come pre-integrated with a processor, but partners can implement the existing company’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and NFC chips to offer a complete solution.

“Broadcom’s new 4G LTE modem combined with our Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC technologies gives OEMs all the communications technologies needed to build advanced devices that will offer consumers the features, speed and functionality they demand in their next smartphone purchase,” said Robert A. Rango, Broadcom Executive Vice President and General Manager, Mobile and Wireless Group.  “Broadcom’s 4G LTE modem will also help carriers drive new 4G LTE features, such as carrier aggregation, into commercial networks.”

Broadcom’s ability to identify emerging networking trends and react appropriately has gotten the company very far in recent years. The chipmaker lists Apple and several other key mobile vendors as customers, and the record earnings it recently reported for the fourth quarter of 2012 beat the Street’s estimates by a fair margin.  Broadcom celebrated the milestone with a 10 percent increase in dividends to shareholders.