Macau coverage

What the Macau numbers mean

Two numbers matter and only one of them is the one every seller quotes. The typical speed, 84 Mbps, tells you what a good moment looks like.

The tenth percentile, 24 Mbps, is the one that matters. It is the speed in the worst tenth of the day, when the cell above the station is full and everybody around you is on it too. A country with a high median and a low floor is a country that works beautifully right up until the moment you actually need it.

If the trip depends on video calls or tethering, plan around the busy figure rather than the typical one.

What happens in Macau when the network is busy

Congestion is not a fault, it is a Tuesday evening. The question is what your eSIM can do about it, and for most travel eSIMs the answer is nothing: one wholesale agreement per country, one network, and no way out except buying a second eSIM from somebody else while standing in the street.

Here, Orbislo traffic runs over CTM and China Telecom. When the network you are on degrades we move you to another one, mid trip, without you asking, and tell you afterwards rather than interrupting you at the time.

Mobile operators in Macau

• CTM: Companhia de Telecomunicacoes de Macau first received public land mobile licence 1/2015 in June 2015, and in July 2022 the government renewed it from 24 June 2023 until 23 June 2028, so CTM's 4G network is licensed through mid 2028.
• CTM, spectrum: The regulator's frequency table gives CTM three LTE FDD blocks, at 894.9 to 904.9 paired with 939.9 to 949.9 MHz, 1720 to 1755 paired with 1815 to 1850 MHz, and 1920 to 1930 paired with 2110 to 2120 MHz.
• China Telecom (Macau): China Telecom (Macau) was authorised in June 2015 to run a public land mobile network under licence 2/2015, and a 2022 decision renewed that licence from 24 June 2023 until 23 June 2028.
• China Telecom (Macau), spectrum: China Telecom (Macau) runs LTE FDD at 824.2 to 834.2 paired with 869.2 to 879.2 MHz, 1755 to 1785 paired with 1850 to 1880 MHz, and 1945 to 1955 paired with 2135 to 2145 MHz, according to the regulator's frequency table.
• 3 Macau: The regulator's frequency table lists Hutchison Telephone (Macau) with only two LTE blocks, 909.9 to 914.9 paired with 954.9 to 959.9 MHz, and 1710 to 1720 paired with 1805 to 1815 MHz, and with no 5G NR spectrum at all.
• 3 Macau, exit: Hutchison has told the government it will surrender its 4G licence and end all mobile service in Macao from 1 December 2026. Under an agreement between the two companies its users can move to CTM's network once they confirm, and Hutchison keeps basic service running during the transition.
• SmarTone, exit: In August 2024 SmarTone asked to give up its Macao 4G licence and said it would not renew its 3G licence, agreeing with CTM on an orderly transfer of its users. The regulator said it would supervise the whole transition.

Older networks in Macau

• In April 2019 the regulator amended the mobile licences so operators could choose whether to keep running 2G GSM, and all of them switched their 2G networks off in November 2019, after which the government may reallocate that spectrum to 5G.
• Macao's 3G licences, extended for two years in 2022, expired on 4 June 2025 and were not renewed, so 3G ended with them. The regulator warned that a phone needs VoLTE to make voice calls afterwards, and without it voice service cannot be used at all.
• 3G was switched off on 5 June 2025. The regulator noted that some phones still could not make calls afterwards, either because they lack VoLTE or because the maker never loaded the settings for Macao's operators. Handset makers treat the Macao market differently, so operators cannot guarantee those settings.
• About 9,300 lines were still on 3G in May 2025, 9,026 postpaid and 274 prepaid, according to the regulator's monthly statistics. In June 2025 the count fell to zero, while LTE and 5G carried about 1.48 million lines.

5G in Macau

• Macao granted its first 5G licences, to CTM and China Telecom (Macau), for eight years from 8 November 2022. Each had to cover half the territory with good quality within 12 months, the whole territory within the following 18 months, and start service within a year.
• Only two companies bid in the 2022 5G tender, CTM and China Telecom (Macau). Both were admitted, China Telecom conditionally until it completed its proof of financial capacity within 24 hours of notification, which it did before the deadline.
• For 5G, CTM holds 723 to 743 paired with 778 to 798 MHz, 1955 to 1980 paired with 2145 to 2170 MHz, 3500 to 3600 MHz and 4800 to 4860 MHz. China Telecom (Macau) holds 703 to 723 with 758 to 778 MHz, 1930 to 1945 with 2120 to 2135 MHz, 3400 to 3500 and 4870 to 4930 MHz.
• The regulator published Macao's 5G spectrum plan in 2018. Today 4G and 5G may use 700 to 2,700 MHz, 3.3 to 3.6 GHz, 4.8 to 4.93 GHz, 6.425 to 7.125 GHz and the millimetre wave range from 24.25 to 28.35 GHz.
• CTM received Macao's number one 5G licence on 7 November 2022. Before launch it reported full indoor and outdoor 5G coverage, and its network supports both non-standalone and standalone 5G, so phones that need either mode can connect.
• CTM officially launched its 5G service plans on 14 November 2022, marking the day with a ceremony at its Taipa store, and the first customers queued for more than an hour before the stores opened.
• China Telecom (Macau) started its 5G service on 23 December 2022, about five weeks after CTM. Both 5G licences run for eight years.
• CTM launched 5.5G, also called 5G-Advanced, on 22 July 2024, the first in Macao. By then over 86 percent of its users had moved to 5G, it said.

Network notes for Macau

• Macao had 1,443,340 mobile lines in July 2026 on the regulator's count, and 1,233,250 of them were on 5G plans, postpaid and prepaid combined. The rest, about 210,000, were on LTE.
• CTM offers VoLTE free of charge on handsets with the feature switched on. Its compatibility list shows VoLTE roaming on iPhone SE, 6S and later models requires iOS 15.4 or newer, which matters now that Macao has no 3G to fall back on for calls.
• Since 2016 the regulator has run quarterly mobile data speed tests in major areas, border ports and large shopping malls, and it asks operators to fix any gap with their advertised performance. Its recommended 4G targets are 15 Mbps down and 7 Mbps up.
• Typhoons are the main risk to service. Before Super Typhoon Ragasa in September 2025 the regulator had operators stock generator fuel and flood barriers, and warned that if power to low lying areas were cut for too long, backup power would run out and service there would fail.
• Every mobile base station needs a radio licence from the regulator, which inspects the equipment first to confirm its emissions stay within international safety limits, under Article 10 of Law 21/2024 on radiocommunications.
• CTM installed 5G base stations inside the Barra light rail station, the stop that links to the sea crossing section of the line, and set up Wi-Fi hotspots at the neighbouring bus terminal as the station opened, the company announced on 8 December 2023.