Macau Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publication Date: October 2024

Report Pages: 102

Analyst: Stephen Marshall

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Macau experiences dramatic upheavals in its prepaid mobile segment

Macau’s economy and GDP have been on a rollercoaster ride since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China is heavily dependent on tourists coming from the mainland and Hong Kong to play in Macau’s many casinos, but the ensuing lockdowns contributed to a dramatic fall in visitor numbers as well as income. This too, has had a major effect on the telecom sector (particularly in the mobile segment) with short-stay visitors as well as foreign workers on temporary-stay visas being forced to stay away.

Total mobile subscription numbers are estimated to have dropped from a high of 2.8 million in 2019 (representing a whopping 442% penetration rate in a region with a population of just 700,000) to less than half that by the end of 2021: 1.3 million subscribers. Macau had almost the highest mobile penetration rate in the world. It is now sitting at a more ‘reasonable’ level of 200%. A significant bounce back can be expected to follow the easing of travel restrictions, although perhaps not up to the same lofty heights achieved in 2019. A second factor behind the steep fall in 2020 was the introduction of a Cyber Security Law that required all prepaid SIM cards to become registered or face being deactivated in October 2020. The combined effect of the pandemic and the new restrictions meant that prepaid subscriber numbers fell by more than 80%. Postpaid accounts, largely the domain of Macau’s permanent residents, were barely affected by the external upheaval. They continued to increase in number, year-on-year, and provided better returns to the operators thanks to substantially increased data usage during the lockdowns.

The mobile broadband market has experienced the same dramatic fluctuations as the broader mobile segment over the last two years, at least in terms of subscriber numbers. But this is largely because mobile broadband uptake is inextricably tied to the base mobile offering in Macau. With total mobile broadband data traffic going up, not down, between 2019 and 2021, that again points to the strength of the contract segment helping to drive future growth in Macau’s telecom sector.

This report includes the regulator's market data to November 2021, telcos' financial and operating data updates to June 2021, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of Covid-19 on the telecoms sector, and other recent market developments.

Key Developments:

Macau’s prepaid mobile segment contracts 80% since the start of the Covid-19 crisis and the requirement to register all SIM cards.
5G mobile networks are in place but await regulatory approval to begin commercial service.
China Telecom launches a “Super SIM” with storage capacity equivalent to an SD card.
CTM selects satellite solutions provider AsiaSat to provide livestreaming of major events such as the Macau Grand Prix.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau (CTM), MTel, SmarTone, 3 Macau, China Telecom, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), AsiaSat.

Key statistics
Regional Asia market comparison

Market characteristics
Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
TMI vs GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Country overview
Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Economic considerations and responses
Subscribers
Infrastructure

Telecommunications market
Regulatory environment

Fixed-line developments
Mobile network developments

CDMA
3G
LTE
5G
SIM card registration

Mobile market

Mobile statistics
Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G (LTE)
3G
2G
Analogue networks

Mobile broadband
Major mobile operators

Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau (CTM)
3 Macau (Hutchison Telecom Macau)
SmarTone Mobile Communications (Macau)
China Telecom

Fixed-line broadband market

Fixed-line broadband technologies

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
Other fixed broadband services

Digital economy

e-Government

e-Macao

e-Commerce

Fixed network market

Major network operators

CTM
MTel

Telecommunications infrastructure

National telecom network
International infrastructure
Data centres
Smart cities

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – Macau – 2022 (e)
Table 2 – Number of licensed operators by service – December 2021
Table 3 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 4 – Change in the number of LTE subscribers by category – 2015 – 2021
Table 5 – Change in the number of 3G subscribers by category – 2012 – 2021
Table 6 – Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 7 – Mobile broadband data traffic – 2017 – 2021
Table 8 – Change in the number of CTM’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 9 – Change in the number of Smartone Macau’s financial data (HK$ million) – 2012 – 2021
Table 10 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 11 – Change in the number of DSL subscribers – 2017 – 2021
Table 12 – Change in the number of fibre subscribers – 2017 – 2021
Table 13 – Change in the number of Wi-Fi Hotspots – 2012 – 2021
Table 14 – Decline in the number of fixed lines in services and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 15 – Change in the number of fixed-line subscribers by type – 2012 – 2021
Table 16 – Change in CTM’s financial data (MOP million) – 2016 – 2020
Table 17 – Historic - Increase in international internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2017
Table 18 – Historic - Internet users and penetration rate – 1996 – 2011
Table 19 – Historic - Mobile subscribers penetration rate – 1996 – 2011
Table 20 – Historic - Fixed-lines and teledensity – 1996 – 2011
Table 21 – Historic - Online activities by individuals – 2015
Table 22 – Historic - CTM mobile, fixed-line and broadband subscribers and ARPU – 2007 – 2011
Table 23 – Historic - Fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2008 – 2011
Table 24 – Historic - Fixed broadband dial up subscribers – 2009 – 2015
Table 25 – Historic - Change in the number of 2G subscribers – 2009 – 2015
Table 26 – Historic - Change in the number of CTM’s mobile subscribers – 2007 – 2011

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Leaders
Chart 2 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers
Chart 3 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Emergents
Chart 4 – Asia – Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 5 – Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 – Northern Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 – Northern Asia – Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 8 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 9 – Change in the number of LTE subscribers by category – 2015 – 2021
Chart 10 – Change in the number of 3G subscribers by category – 2012 – 2021
Chart 11 – Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 12 – Mobile broadband data traffic – 2017 – 2021
Chart 13 – Change in the number of CTM’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 14 – Change in the number of Smartone Macau’s financial data (HK$ million) – 2012 – 2021
Chart 15 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 16 – Change in the number of DSL subscribers – 2017 – 2021
Chart 17 – Change in the number of fibre subscribers – 2017 – 2021
Chart 18 – Change in the number of Wi-Fi Hotspots – 2012 – 2021
Chart 19 – Decline in the number of fixed lines in services and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Chart 20 – Change in the number of fixed-line subscribers by type – 2012 – 2021
Chart 21 – Change in CTM’s financial data – 2016 – 2020

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in Asia
Exhibit 2 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 3 – Asia – Market Leaders and market developments
Exhibit 4 – Asia – Market Challengers and market developments
Exhibit 5 – Asia – Market Emergents and market developments
Exhibit 6 – Map of Macau

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Macau Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Macau experiences dramatic upheavals in its prepaid mobile segment

Key Developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional Asia market comparison

Country overview

Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-line broadband market

Digital economy

Fixed network market

Telecommunications infrastructure

Appendix – Historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views