CTM expects commercial use of 5G in 2020

Vandy Poon

Local telecom operator CTM announced yesterday that if the 5G license and spectrum arrangements are progressing well, CTM is confident that 5G in Macau will be launched in 2020 commercially.

Vandy Poon, CEO of CTM, noted that the company is confident that 5G in Macau will synchronize with the neighboring regions and will be launched for commercial use in 2020 where it will introduce various 5G applications and services that suits Macau.

“I believe that 5G will be 100 times faster than 4G,” said Poon, who also noted that “in the future, cellphones will be able to use 4G and 5G simultaneously.”

Following the introduction of the global 5G standard in June 2018, CTM proceeded with 5G network testing and actively engaged in close communications with the government on 5G licenses and spectrum arrangements in Macau. 

The result has formed a useful basis of reference for the estimation of spectrum resources and cell sites deployment arrangements required for the construction of 5G in Macau.

“The whole plan [5G development] takes 13 months. If the license can be issued next year, it will provide us with basic conditions to develop 5G in Macau,” said Declan Leong, vice president of Network Services of CTM.

“We recommend the government issue the license next year, so that we can launch the service in 2020. Otherwise, we will be slower than the neighboring regions,” warned Leong. 

According to Leong, the challenges of building 5G in Macau are mostly spectrum resources and cell sites deployment. The higher transmission rate and low latency of 5G networks indicates that higher spectrum segments are required. The number of 5G cell sites will be more than 4G.

As explained by Leong, due to the objective conditions of Macau, it will be a great challenge to operators in the deployment of 5G cell sites.

Therefore, CTM has also made recommendations to the government on relevant issues, and hopes to present a better solution to the problem of 5G cell sites.

Huawei is also providing technology and human resources to support CTM in developing the 5G network.

Poon supports communication interception la

CEO of CTM, Vandy Poon, is supportive of the city’s new communication interception law.

“We think that legislating the security law is a good thing because it helps protect the society. I think, as we put it before, we trust that the government will legislate a balanced approach to protect the privacy and the freedom of communication, and at the same time to protect the territory from all sorts of cyber dangers,” Poon said on the sideline of yesterday’s press conference.

The law proposes that telecom operators should keep the customers’ records for one year.

“In the past, we have also kept our records. This is not a new thing for a business or for an operator to keep the records. […] It is definitely longer than what we are currently doing. We will study it.”

“This law, I personally believe, is consolidating some of the pieces, then making them more modernized and inclusive of the new elements of the society that were not previously in existence,” said Poon.  JZ