Vodafone customers will be able to access 4G mobile broadband services in certain areas of the country from next Monday.

The company is switching on 4G in six cities and 23 towns across the south east and south west of the country, the second major network to do so since Eircom introduced the service for Meteor and eMobile customers last month.

The 4G service offers speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G. Vodafone claims 4G devices on their network will be capable of speeds of up to 74MBS, which will allow customers to watch video content online without buffering, and upload pictures to social media in seconds.

In order to access the service, customers must have a 4G device and a 4G sim.

In tandem with the introduction of 4G, Vodafone is also updating its 3G service, which they say will improve data speeds, coverage and call quality for all customers.

A spokeswoman for Vodafone said the 4G rollout across the country “is a continuing programme” which will take three to five years.