The biggest tech deal of 2015 just happened and it could mean faster internet for you

Dish Joey
Dish Joey

Two of the biggest technology companies in the computer networking business are to combine their resources after Avago Technologies announced it's acquiring Broadcom for $37 billion (about £24 billion, AU$49 billion).

At more than twice the value, it dwarfs the Nokia/Alcatel Lucent deal announced last month and the new company, which will take on the Broadcom name, has a combined enterprise value of $77 billion (about £50 billion, AU$102 billion) and annual revenues of $15 billion (about £10 billion, about AU$20 billion).

Obviously cost "synergies" played a massive role in the deal (around $750 million annually, which is about £490 million or AU$985 million) but there's more to it. The new company will offer an unparalleled product breadth that will cover everything from optical sensors to micro-processors (Raspberry Pi's and Now TV's chips are Broadcom).

While Nokia and Alcatel Lucent mentioned 5G and Internet of Things when they merged, the Broadcom/Avago deal will likely see an acceleration in the development of new, promising fixed connectivity technologies for businesses and consumers alike.

In other words, expect your future TiVO set-top box and even your broadband router/ISP modem, both of which will almost certainly have Broadcom chips inside, to get better and faster thanks to Avago's IP.

Desire Athow
Managing Editor, TechRadar Pro

Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.