Lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho is concerned about the quality of the Internet service in Macau, he noted in a written inquiry submitted earlier this month to the government.
Under discussion is the optical submarine telecommunications cable South-East Asia – Middle East – Western Europe 3 (SEA-ME-WE), on which local internet supply depends and which, according to the lawmaker, is reaching its end-of-life period.
Pereira Coutinho is worried, as the “internet is a paramount service that is used daily by the population, the banking and finance sector, official entities, education institutions, as well as tourists, who [desire] stable, safe, fast and reliable [internet] services,” he wrote as part of the inquiry to which the Times had access.
The lawmaker also claims that, more than 20 years since the activation of the cable, Macau needs more underwater cables to make regional and international connections with the neighboring region of Hong Kong, which possesses several connections and links.
The proposed solution would have several connections directly to Macau or, alternatively, would link Macau through “Cable Landing Points” using the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge for such a purpose.
Pereira Coutinho is also arguing that the local government should invest in local infrastructure, allowing all the telecommunications operators to request convergency licenses to allow the provision, to the general public, of lower cost services.
With this inquiry, the lawmaker wishes to know about the government’s plans in this field and whether the authorities are planning to allow all operators to use the assets of the current concession to increase the quality and efficiency of the services as well as reducing costs to people, companies and institutions.
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