CDMA licence granted to China Unicom

The SAR Government today announced the granting of a licence to China Unicom to operate a CDMA telecommunication network in the MSAR and to provide roaming services. The licence is the result of a public tender exercise launched by the Government last September in which five telecommunication service providers -- Companhia de China Unicom (Macau) Limitada, Vodatel Holdings Limited, Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau, S.A.R.L., SmarTone-Comunicações Móveis, S.A., and Sociedade de Prestação de Serviços Kong Seng Paging, Limitada – submitted proposals. According China Unicom’s bid, its network would be operational in October in time for the 4th East Asian Game to be held in Macao. The SAR Government decided to introduce CDMA telecommunication to Macao as it believe the service would be in demand as new development in gaming, tourism and the convention and exhibition industry, as well as a series of scheduled sports and cultural events, attract even more visitors to Macao.