CTM CEO Vandy Poon Fuk Hei said yesterday that his company would start tests on its 5G network by the end of this year, and that it would be able to launch 5G at the same pace as the mainland and Hong Kong.
Poon made the announcement in a speech at the company’s annual media dinner, this year held at Galaxy’s JW Marriott, where he also said that the company’s profit last year was 881 million patacas, 19 percent down from 2016.
“The decrease of 19 percent reflected the pressure of multiple tariff reductions,” Poon said, pointing out that because of that, the company has rolled out a series of other services to diversify its business.
Poon said that although profit has gone down, the company, whose major shareholder is CITIC Telecom, still invested 385 million patacas in its business last year.
CTM is the city’s number-one telecommunications company.
“We hope there will be a slight increase [in profit] for this year,” Poon said later at a press conference.
CTM had earlier this week announced that the tariff for its local leased circuit and international private leased circuit will be reduced by an average of 7 percent and 11 percent respectively starting from Sunday, which would benefit business sector customers and local telecom operators.
Asked whether there would be further tariff reductions in its other telecom services, Poon said that his company has done all it can to bring tariffs down whenever possible.
“In recent years, we’ve made actual efforts to let the public know that we’re finding every opportunity to reduce our tariffs,” Poon said.
“But people have to understand the scale of the market and the development of information technology requires investment, and CTM operates under a business model, so we need to find a balance,” he added.
Poon said that he believed that CTM’s tariffs now are “competitive and reasonable”.
CTM’s vice president for commercial affairs, Ebel Cham Pou I, said at the press conference that as the company’s was facing pressure from its tariff reductions in recent years, it was diversifying its business.
She pointed out that CTM has been awarded several large-scale projects from the government and the gaming and financial sectors, enabling it to continue its investment drive.
Some of the upcoming projects would see the introduction of apps this year, such as for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), health management and a health tracking system for senior citizens, as well as smart transport, Cham said.
CTM CEO Vandy Poon Fuk Hei delivers a speech at the telecom operator’s annual media dinner at Galaxy’s JW Marriott hotel in Cotai yesterday. Photo: Monica Leong
