SINGAPORE - Singtel will be progressively rolling out 1 Gigabits per second mobile speeds for users in high-traffic locations such as Orchard Road, Raffles Place, Tanjong Pagar and Clarke Quay after a successful trial.

Handsets supporting the higher speed on this quad-band network are expected to be available from the second half of 2018.

Existing Singtel smartphone users will also be able to enjoy up to 20 per cent faster mobile broadband speeds on average as Singtel deploys technology by Ericsson to combine higher bandwidth layers.

Said Singtel's group chief technology officer, Mark Chong: "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."

He added: "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."

In its press statement on Monday, Singtel said that it had achieved the peak mobile speed on Ericsson's quad-band technology, which combines four communication bands to achieve higher speeds. A Singtel spokesperson said that this was analogous to having four lanes of expressways.

The technology will also enable the telco to optimise the usage of its newly acquired 2,500 MHz spectrum band, and enhance the consumer mobile experience, Singtel said.