Vice president of Network Services, Declan Leong
The local telecommunications company Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau S.A.R.L. (CTM) has been ready to start providing 5G services in Macau for almost one year, members of the executive committee told the media yesterday during a media tour of CTM facilities and new developments.
According to the company’s vice president of Legal & Regulatory, Aguinaldo Wahnon, all the infrastructure to support the new network was concluded in June last year and since then has been waiting, for the licensing from the government in order to start operations.
Wahnon also told the media that the telecom operator has already invested some 600 million patacas in infrastructure and is willing to invest a total of 3.6 billion patacas in the next five years in the expansion and update of the system.
During the presentation to the media on developments related to the 5G network, the vice president of Network Services, Declan Leong, noted that the regulatory delays from the government are causing Macau to lag behind many countries and regions, particularly in Asia, where 5G is already a reality.
According to Leong, Macau is already three years late in the launching of 5G in comparison with the mainland and South Korea, both of which started the service back in 2019, as well as Japan and the neighboring region of Hong Kong which both commenced 5G operations in 2020.
The same official added that Macau is not only late in implementation of the 5G service but is also the only place within the Greater Bay Area that does not have yet this service.
Questioned by the media as to why is it taking so long to regulate the matter and issue licenses for the operation of 5G services, Wahnon said, “I believe that others priorities might have stalled or delayed the government dealing with this, […] obviously Covid[-19] contributed and also the ongoing changes in the gaming sector are a priority for the government. Last year they extended CTM’s concession, which was important because it was absolutely essential for our continuous efforts in extending the optic fiber cable all over Macau, which is a necessary [condition] for this [for the 5G development] to happen.”
Concerning fiber optics reach, Leong said that Macau is among a very small group of places in the world where fiber optics has full coverage, reaching every household.
“We are among very few places that have achieved this, just like Qatar and a few other places. Taking the example of Hong Kong, for instance, their optic fiber coverage is only around 80% currently,” he said.
In his explanation of the 5G uses and characteristics, Leong noted that while people often focus their attention only on the added speed of the 5G network, many other aspects are even more relevant than speed.
“The 5G improvement is not just about speed and how fast it can be, it’s also about the latency of data transfer that can improve a lot,” he said, adding, “5G is not just about use by humans but it’s mostly about use by machines,” he remarked, adding, “if there is a surgery being done remotely via the internet, we need to ensure that there is no delay between the movement of the surgeon in one place and the place where the patient is, otherwise this could be catastrophic, things [under 5G] need to done in real-time.” He also gave some examples of 5G application in vehicles, self-driving, and other autonomous or semi-autonomous machinery.
Another of the added functions of 5G was said to be security features allowing data exchange to be more secure and safer from external attacks or hacking.
The vice president for commercial, Ebel Cham, also noted that the 5G technology will enable companies, sectors and even the government to transmit information without passing through the servers of the service provider. These advantages of being both faster as well as more secure, are among the benefits that Cham said that CTM wants to be able to offer to the clients once the 5G service is in operation.
The media tour included a visit to the facilities including the 7×24 Network Management Center, Security Operation Center, and the International Tier-III CTM Data Center, located at the CTM Telecentro building in Taipa.
CTM calls for friendly policies regarding 5G fees
Questioned on requests made to the government by CTM and the status of the negotiations, Wahnon said that the company hopes that the government decides on policies regarding 5G which are conducive to its development and expansion.
“We hope the government is receptive to our calls. We know they are still studying the matter but we are hoping for a good [outcome], especially in what concerns network spectrum fees and licensing fees. We can only hope they adopt friendly policies.”
The company also noted that the investment already made by CTM, even before the licensing, creates an asset, and a wide range of opportunities for other players who would not need to repeat the same investment, since CTM could provide access to the system.
