A proposal to reform the telecommunications law in Macau SAR (the Proposed Bill) was recently submitted in the Legislative Assembly. Having already passed in its first reading, the current wording of the Proposed Bill has the potential to be considered the most significant restructuring of Macau’s telecommunications sector since the enactment of Law No. 14/2001 (the in-force telecommunications law).
Rather than deregulating the sector, the Proposed Bill seeks to replace its fragmented, technology-specific rules with a unified framework for licensing, infrastructure access, and competition. However, for the sake of clarity, it should be mentioned that its provisions would not apply to television, radio or satellite broadcasting, or private telecommunications (including those used by government, public, licensed, or authorised entities), all of which shall be governed by separate regulations.
A technology-neutral framework
In the Proposed Bill’s statement of reasons, the current framework is described as a model in which networks and services are regulated through separate instruments, delaying the roll-out of new technologies in the region due to a lack of regulation. Instead, the Proposed Bill establishes technological neutrality as its guiding principle in an attempt to future-proof the law by accommodating terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, fixed and mobile services, and future innovations without repeatedly amending the law. It also determines that the sector’s regulator, the Macau Post and Telecommunications Bureau (CTT), may only adopt technology-specific measures when required to meet regulatory objectives.
Licensing, infrastructure sharing, and competition
To incentivise fair competition, the Proposed Bill would introduce a network and a service licence, both of which are subject to final approval by the chief executive and may be sought by legal persons incorporated and with their principal administration in Macau and that meet financial, technical, experience, and integrity requirements:
Network licence – valid up to 15 years, and allows the operation of public networks and the provision of related wholesale services; and
Service licence – valid up to eight years, and allows the provision of voice, data, internet, data centre, and other services to users.
Because effective market entry partly depends on access to existing infrastructure, the 1999 concession granted to Macau’s incumbent telecommunications operator, Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau, is relevant to the Proposed Bill’s liberalising ambitions, as it conferred exclusive rights over certain public telecommunications services. Under an addendum signed on September 18 2025, Macau extended the concession to September 30 2027, while providing for specified assets to gradually revert to Macau on October 1 2025 and for concession ducts and other facilities to be made available for sharing with licensed public-network operators on principles of equality, transparency, and user-pays. The extension may, however, be terminated after September 30 2026 on 60 days’ notice.
The Proposed Bill further requires network operators to pursue agreements to share passive infrastructure, and, where sharing or interconnection negotiations fail, the CTT may intervene and impose binding terms, including prices, as anti-competitive practices – including predatory pricing, tying and restrictions on users’ choice – are prohibited. The CTT may also define relevant markets, identify undertakings with significant market power, and impose transparency, accounting-separation, and price-approval obligations.
Consumer protection and universal service
Besides technological neutrality, the Proposed Bill places public-interest and consumer rights protection at its centre. It retains the chief executive’s power to appoint one or more telecommunications licensees to provide universal service (including basic voice, emergency calls, directory services, public telephones, and internet access) at approved tariffs, noting that the universal service’s scope may evolve with technology, market conditions, and residents’ needs. However, it also requires disclosure to consumers on information, contracts, billing, service quality, continuity, complaints, and loyalty periods. On top of that, to compel compliance, hefty administrative fines are introduced – which may increase daily if infringement is not remedied within the CTT’s deadline – and responsible directors may also incur liability.
The Proposed Bill is therefore better understood as a recalibration of Macau’s telecommunications framework, rather than as a measure of deregulation: it separates network operation from service provision and equips the CTT to address barriers to access and significant market power, while retaining substantial controls over entry and the public interest. Whether those changes foster effective competition will depend on the final text, supplementary instruments, and their application.
On a final note, although the Proposed Bill does not explicitly address Macau’s broader diversification objectives outlined in the region's recently published Third Five-Year Plan, which prioritises economic diversification and modern financial services by explicitly mentioning that the government is looking to develop the fintech industry and the feasibility of digital assets, its framework is deliberately technology-neutral. This ensures that instead of creating rigid technological barriers, the new law may serve as a vital enabler by laying the groundwork for the high-performance digital foundation required to support sophisticated financial innovations and actively attract forward-thinking enterprises from the global tech sector.
