Singapore, January 7, 2026, 15:09 SGT — Regular session
Shares of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel) fell about 2.4% to S$4.43 in afternoon trade on Wednesday, as the operator pressed ahead with a 50Gbps fibre broadband trial it announced earlier this week. The stock traded between S$4.42 and S$4.56 on the day and is set to report earnings on Feb. 18. 1
Singtel has started a technical trial of 50 gigabits per second fibre broadband — the first such operator test in Singapore — and it has not confirmed a timeline for a commercial rollout. The pilot uses XGS-PON (10 Gigabit Symmetrical Passive Optical Network), a fibre access standard, to stress-test whether networks can deliver much higher speeds while keeping latency — the lag in data transfer — low as homes and firms run heavier AI and cloud workloads. “This next evolution in fibre broadband connectivity helps ensure that homes and businesses can continue to support increasingly immersive and AI-enabled digital experiences,” Singtel Singapore CEO Ng Tian Chong said. 2
The trial lands as investors look for clearer payoffs from network upgrades in a mature home market, where pricing and product differentiation can be tight. Singtel widened its operating companies’ earnings guidance to “high single digit to low double digit” growth after a strong first half, while its Australian unit Optus remained a focal point after operational setbacks, The Business Times reported.
The broader Singapore market held near record levels, with the Straits Times Index up about 0.02% on Wednesday after a 1.27% jump in the prior session.
But execution risks linger at Optus, which has faced heightened scrutiny after network incidents. A review of a September emergency-call outage found failures during a firewall upgrade and said the Optus board was weighing action “from financial penalties through to termination” for those responsible.
