Telecom operator CTM announced yesterday that it will roll out a one-off fee reduction scheme next year for commercial and residential customers, including discounts on monthly subscription fees for broadband internet services to be given for certain months next year.
The fee reduction scheme will also cover internet services used by government entities.
CTM senior executives announced details of the company’s fee reductions during a press conference in a ballroom at the Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16 casino-hotel resort.
Yesterday’s CTM announcements came after the government last month extended CTM’s concession agreement for two more years, until September 30, 2027, for which the government has required the telecom operator to launch fee reductions for household users and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The fee reductions announced by CTM yesterday will cover all business customers, namely SMEs and large enterprises.
The government underlined last month that it decided to extend CTM’s concession agreement for two more years with the aim of ensuring the stability of the city’s telecom services and in alignment with the future legislation of a new telecom bill.
The CTM executives told yesterday’s press conference that with the aim of supporting the government in reforming the city’s telecom industry so as to create a better business environment and enhancing residents’ sense of satisfaction, CTM will roll out a one-off fee reduction scheme next year, covering all categories of customers, namely SMEs, large enterprises, government entities, and individual customers.
The CTM executives underlined that the scheme has been green-lighted by the Post and Telecommunications Bureau (CTT).
Customers who had applied to use CTM’s services on or before September 30 this year will be entitled to the fee reductions.
Yesterday marked the 44th anniversary of the establishment of the telecom operator, which was founded on October 20, 1981.
All eligible customers will be given their respective fee reductions and discounts on their bills automatically without having to make an application.
According to the scheme presented during yesterday’s press conference, SME users will receive a 20-percent discount on monthly subscription fees for their broadband internet services for January, April, July, and October next year.
The scheme will also include a permanent reduction in the monthly subscription fees for commercial fixed telephony services for SMEs.
Currently, the monthly subscription fee for venues such as clinics, office units and industrial units is 143 patacas, while the monthly subscription fee for venues such as bars, restaurants and inns is 200 patacas. Effectively from January next year, according to the press conference, the monthly subscription fee for commercial fixed telephony services for all types of SME businesses will be lowered to 140 patacas.
According to the scheme, SME businesses that subscribe both the fixed telephony services and broadband internet services will only have to pay 112 patacas per month for their fixed telephony services, representing a discount of up to 44 percent compared to their current monthly fee.
Large enterprises and government entities, according to the press conference, will also receive a 20-percent discount on monthly subscription fees for their broadband internet services, but only for two months, namely January and July next year, unlike their SME counterparts which will be given the discount for four months.
In addition, large enterprises and government entities will receive a 10-percent discount on monthly subscription fees for Direct Internet Access (DIA) services as well as monthly subscription fees for local private leased circuit (PLC) and international private leased circuit (IPLC) services, also for January and July next year.
According to the press conference, individual customers using residential broadband internet services will receive a 10-percent discount on their monthly subscription fees for January, April, July, and October next year.
Moreover, the scheme announced yesterday will also include a permanent reduction in the fee of additional mobile data usage for smartphone users – after using up all available mobile data in their respective monthly plans for mobile telecom services.
Effectively from January next year, the fee will to lowered from the current 13 patacas per GB to 8 patacas per GB, representing a reduction of 38.5 percent.
CTM Corporate Communications Director Eliza Chan (from left to right), Information Technology Vice President (VP) Komix Hui, Network Services VP Thomas Ng, Commercial VP Ebel Cham, Finance VP Terri Kuan, and Customer Service VP Thomas Lau address yesterday’s press conference at Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16, which also announced the company’s development initiatives for big data models and artificial intelligence (AI) projects. – Photo: Tony Wong
