Gov’t issues 5G licenses for CTM and China Telecom

The government has published in the official gazette the issuing of the 5G telecom licenses for the CTM and China Telecom operators as a result of the public tender held previously.

The licenses of the two operators will have validity for a period of eight years and can be renewed for the same period or less by the initiative of the operator, who should state such intention up to two years before the expiration date.

As also stated in the rules of the tender and now on the licenses, operators have a start to offer the 5G service within one year of the date of the license issuance and offer, by that time, coverage of at least 50% of the territory.

Such coverage should be extended to the whole territory within the next 18 months.

Operators will also have to submit the 5G service price list to the government for approval.

Having said on previous occasions that their network was complete and ready to start operations, CTM has announced its intention of launching the service as early as Monday (Nov. 14).

According to the investment plan, CTM expects to invest MOP206 million by the end of 2023 and MOP1.02 billion, with the larger slice of investment to come during 2026 (MOP219.7 million).

Concurrently, China Telecom has said it wants to invest MOP469.41 million, from which MOP87 million will be invested by the end of 2023.

The larger slice of the China Telecom investment should come in 2024 when the company hopes to invest some MOP158.16 million.

Besides their investments, both companies need to commit to hiring local workers, with CTM promising to reach 2026 with a maximum of 74.1% of local employees (747 workers). China Telecom expects to reach a maximum of 65% (156 workers) by 2027.