Lightning surge protection semiconductor devices have been developed for subscriber telecommunication equipment that utilize transient thermal and low energy dissipation designs to improve surge-handling capability. A fabricated eight-cell device based on transient thermal design and a four-cell device with a thin substrate based on low energy dissipation design have a 1.83 and 1.80 times higher surge-handling capability, respectively, than a conventional device for lightning surge current waveforms of (1.5/30) µs.