A public tender to operate Macao’s 5G mobile network has been launched today. Four licences are to be given out with each licence lasting eight years.
Proposals – which will need to present a five-year-plan – must be submitted on 12 August the latest. Each licence will last for eight years. Companies who want to bid for the tender must make a MOP 500,000 deposit and winners will then need to make a MOP 2 million deposit as guarantee.
The tender was issued as an Executive Order published in the Official Gazette by Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng. The decision was taken in light of the telecommunication development in mainland China and Hong Kong, and to further integrate with the Greater Bay Area’s development.
Within a period of one year from the day the four winning bids are announced, the 5G network will cover 50 per cent of Macao, while the network is expected to cover the entire city within 18 months after that.
According to Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau (CTM), the 5G network has been operational and “ready to work” since last June.
The city’s telecom operator said last month it was hoping to launch commercial 5G service across Macao by the end of this year.
