SINGAPORE - Smartphone users in Singapore will soon be able to enjoy a mobile speed of 1Gbps.

Singtel said on Monday (Feb 12) that it has achieved this peak mobile speed using Ericsson's quad-band FDD/TDD Carrier Aggregation (CA) technology.

This will enable the telco to optimise the usage of its newly-acquired 2500 MHz spectrum band and improve consumers' experience.

Following a successful trial, Singtel will progressively roll out this technology at high-traffic locations such as Orchard Road, Raffles Place, Tanjong Pagar and Clarke Quay.

Handsets supporting the 1Gbps speed on the quad-band network are expected to be available from the second half of this year.

The telco said that existing Singtel smartphone users will be able to enjoy up to 20 per cent faster mobile broadband speeds on average, as Singtel deploys Ericsson's intelligent technology.

"This feature allows operators to manage spectrum more efficiently and supports customers' smartphones to automatically select the best spectrum band combination available, enabling optimum speeds."

Singtel's group chief technology officer Mark Chong said: "As the world prepares for the 5G era, Singtel is leveraging its spectrum assets and the latest advancements in mobile technology to optimise our network usage.

"Singtel will continue to fully integrate our current capabilities and spectrum assets with cutting-edge technology solutions to ensure that we provide customers a future-ready, ultra-fast and low latency mobile network."