Macau’s government has renewed the 3G licences of the territory’s four mobile operators – CTM, China Telecom, Hutchison (3 Macau) and SmarTone – which will be valid until 2023.

As a condition for renewal, Telecommunications Regulation Bureau (DSRT) is requiring the operators to introduce a number of “customer protection mechanisms” in the first six months of next year, the Macau Business Daily said.

In January they have to inform customers of their exact data usage. When requested, operators also will need to provide details of a user’s daily data usage. Starting in April once a subscriber has hit his/her data limit, user confirmation is required before the operator can allow additional data usage. Finally, in June the companies need to send customers real-time alerts of their data usage, and can’t charge subscribers if the usage alerts are delayed.

The DSRT also announced it has no plans to phase out 2G services in the gambling haven in order to cater to tourists from developing countries.

Last month six companies submitted bids for four 4G licences. The DSRT opened the 4G tender on 15 September and plans to award the licences in the first quarter. DSRT accepted bids last week from CTM, China Mobile Hong Kong, China Telecom (Macau), Hutchison (Macau), SmarTone and U Hong.