Fixed-line phones reach new low

Even though the government has just launched a tender for the licensing of two new operators, the number of fixed-line telephones (residential and commercial) has dropped to about 165,500 at the end of December, a record low.
The local telecommunications market has lost more than 12,500 fixed-line service providers in the last four years.
In December the drop was felt mostly in the residential service, down by 490 to 111,500.
The government is planning to issue two new licenses during the first half of this year to build networks to provide bandwidth to telecommunication operators, not only for fixed-line telephone service but also for Internet services.
The number of Internet subscribers grew by 500 to more than 138,200 in December. In 2000 the market for Internet service providers was liberalised but so far CTM is the only operator.
On the other hand mobile phones continue to hit new highs as the number of users reached 1.35 million last month. This figure means there are 2.4 subscriptions for every one of Macau’s estimated 560,100 residents.