BroadLight

BroadLight, founded in June 2000, operated as a fabless semiconductor company specializing in the fiber access market. The founding team included Ran Dror, David Levi, Haim Ben Amram, Didi Ivancovsky, and Raanan Ivry. Headquartered in Herzliya, Israel, the company correctly anticipated the market shift from xDSL copper broadband to fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), positioning itself to serve the demand for highly integrated Fiber Access System-on-a-Chip (SoC) solutions.

The company developed and marketed integrated networking and embedded processors for Passive Optical Network (PON) technologies. Its product portfolio was designed for both central office equipment, such as optical line terminals (OLT), and customer premise equipment (CPE), like optical network units (ONU) for homes. BroadLight provided end-to-end BPON and GPON component solutions, which included semiconductor devices, embedded software, and reference designs. This allowed network equipment vendors to more rapidly develop and deploy standards-based PON products for telecommunication operators rolling out fiber access networks, fixed-mobile networks, and connected digital homes. Starting in 2004, the company secured multiple patents in fiber access and CPE network processing.

BroadLight's business model was fabless, meaning it designed the chips but outsourced the manufacturing process. Its clients were network equipment vendors who served major telecommunication operators worldwide. The company's revenue was generated from the sale of these specialized processors and software solutions. Over its lifetime, BroadLight raised a total of $22 million in funding over three rounds from notable investors including Benchmark, Motorola Mobility, and Azure Capital Partners.

In March 2012, Broadcom Corporation announced its definitive agreement to acquire BroadLight, a move intended to expand Broadcom's own broadband access portfolio. The acquisition, which was completed in April 2012, was valued at approximately $195 million in cash, net of cash assumed, with a potential additional $10 million based on performance goals. The deal integrated BroadLight's GPON solutions with Broadcom's existing EPON technology, enabling Broadcom to offer a comprehensive, end-to-end solution for the growing global fiber network market.

Keywords: BroadLight, fabless semiconductor, passive optical network, PON, GPON, FTTH, FTTX, fiber access, System-on-a-Chip, SoC, embedded processors, central office equipment, customer premise equipment, OLT, ONU, network equipment vendors, telecommunications, Broadcom acquisition, BPON