The CIA World Factbook Every edition, 1990 to 2024 Southeast Asia

Telecommunication systems Macau, in 35 editions.

The entry for Macau published Telecommunication systems in 35 editions of 36, from 1990 to 2024. The text changed in 26 editions. Each is shown as published. Telecommunication systems in every entry.

editions changed the text
26
the first edition with it
1990
the latest edition with it
2024

Published as “Telecommunications” (1990 to 1994), “Telephone system” (1995 to 2019) and “Telecommunication systems” (2020 to 2024).

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe edition shownChoose an edition on the strip beside the text, or step through them with the arrows. Mark changes compares it with the edition before: the marks are ours, words added and words removed.

2024

Same as 2023
Mark changes

Open the 2024 entry

The same text in 2023 and 2024.

general assessment:
  • Macau’s economy and GDP have been on a roller coaster 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 lock downs 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;
  • asecond 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 lock downs;
  • 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 (2022)
domestic:
fixed-line nearly 16 per 100 and mobile-cellular roughly 410 per 100 persons (2021)
international:
  • country code - 853;
  • landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3 submarine cable network that provides links to Asia, Africa, Australia, the Middle East, and Europe;
  • HF radiotelephone communication facility;
  • satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (2019)

general assessment: Macau’s economy and GDP have been on a roller coaster 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 lock downs 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; asecond 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 lock downs; 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 (2022)
domestic: fixed-line nearly 17 16 per 100 and mobile-cellular roughly 430 410 per 100 persons (2020) (2021)
international: country code - 853; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3 submarine cable network that provides links to Asia, Africa, Australia, the Middle East, and Europe; HF radiotelephone communication facility; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (2019)
note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced a downturn, particularly in mobile device production; progress toward 5G implementation has resumed, as well as upgrades to infrastructure; consumer spending on telecom services has increased due to the surge in demand for capacity and bandwidth; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home is still evident, and the spike in this area has seen growth opportunities for development of new tools and increased services

Central Intelligence Agency. “Macau: Telecommunication systems.” The World Factbook, 1990–2024 editions. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/macau/telecommunication-systems.

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