SINGAPORE, Feb 21 — Households will be to access broadband speeds that are up to 10 times faster than what they are currently experiencing from as early as 2025, with the Singapore government spending S$100 million (RM356.7 million) to upgrade the Nationwide Broadband Network, said the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) today (February 21).

First announced by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during his Budget speech last week, the IMDA said that households can start signing up for the faster speed through their providers from next year.

It added that they expect more than half a million households to sign up to enjoy higher speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) by 2028.

Speaking to the media today, 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 added 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 that time offered speeds at 30 megabits per second (Mbps). Currently, more than 85 per cent of households have access to high speed broadband services at 1Gps or higher.

Mrs Teo said that the early investments in Singapore’s digital infrastructure paid off during Covid-19 where the network allowed the whole of Singapore to seamlessly connect and 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 said.

IMDA said that the network upgrade, together with the roll-out of 5G mobile services and faster wi-fi networks, also aims to support maintaining Singapore’s global competitiveness and better economic opportunities.

To support 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 10Gps services.

"Even though it may not be possible to have the whole of Shenzhen on 10Gps, 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 said.

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.” — TODAY