10 times faster home broadband speeds to be rolled out from 2025, full completion by 2026
SINGAPORE — From as early as 2025, households here will be able to access broadband speeds that are up to 10 times faster than what they are now getting, with the Government spending S$100 million to upgrade the nationwide broadband network, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said on Wednesday (Feb 21).
- Households will be able to access broadband speeds up to 10 times faster from 2025
- This is aimed at "future proofing" Singapore's digital infrastructure for innovations and opportunities such as artificial intelligence
- Currently, more than 85 per cent of households here have access to high-speed broadband services at 1Gbps or higher
- Communications and Information Minister Josephine Teo said that the upgrade will maintain Singapore's global competitiveness for digital infrastructure
- IMDA will be investing S$100 million to upgrade the nationwide broadband network
SINGAPORE — From as early as 2025, households here will be able to access broadband speeds that are up to 10 times faster than what they are now getting, with the Government spending S$100 million to upgrade the nationwide broadband network.
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said on Wednesday (Feb 21) that it expects more than half a million households to sign up for the higher speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) by 2028. They may start registering through their internet providers from next year.
The upgrade was first announced by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during his Budget speech last week.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo said: "It is about future-proofing our country and making sure that people have the ability to thrive in every possible way."
IMDA said that it is important for Singapore to invest ahead in foundational connectivity infrastructure and as digital technologies develop rapidly, a higher-capacity broadband network will help to provide a foundation to enable future innovations and opportunities.
This includes areas such as artificial intelligence, immersive digital experiences and autonomous devices.
The nationwide broadband network was set up in 2006 and at the time, it offered speeds at 30 megabits per second (Mbps). Right now, more than 85 per cent of households here have access to high-speed broadband services at 1Gbps or higher.
Mrs Teo said that the early investments in the country's digital infrastructure paid off during the Covid-19 crisis when the network allowed the whole of Singapore to seamlessly connect and people could continue to work and learn from home.
"When we fast-forward to today, households have found a use for it especially when none of us could have predicted that there would be a pandemic that required us to work from home or shift learning online," she added.
IMDA said that the network upgrade, together with the roll-out of 5G mobile services and faster Wi-Fi networks, also aims to support and maintain Singapore's global competitiveness and economic opportunities.
On this point, Mrs Teo gave the example of Shenzhen in China, a city known for its technology developments that is also looking at improving its network to provide 10Gbps services.
"Even though it may not be possible to have the whole of Shenzhen on 10Gbps, maybe a certain part of Shenzhen can achieve that, and if they are looking at this as a wave of the future, isn't it something that we should be looking at as well?"
She added that although digital developments change our ways of working and living, they are not entirely known in advance.
"Therefore, we just have to try and make a best effort as far as understanding what the trends are going to be, and then making sure that our digital infrastructure is future-proofed."