¡¡ With Macao's upcoming return to the motherland, the amount of telecommunications services between the region and the interior areas of China is booming.

¡¡ During the first half of the year, the amount of telecom business between Macao and the mainland approached 3.5 million times each month on the average, according to the Macao Telecommunications Company, which enjoys the franchise in local telecom business.

¡¡ Latest statistics from the company show that from January to June this year there were 1.86 million calls from Macao to the mainland per month on the average, and 1.61 million calls the other way round.

¡¡ In particular, the monthly calls from Macao to neighboring Guangdong Province in south China were 1.4 million times. There are two optical telecom lines between Macao and Guangdong.

¡¡ Sources with the company said that the capacity of telecom service between Macao the mainland areas of China will increase 39 percent by the year end, and long-distance calls to leading Chinese cities will become easier and cheaper. (Xinhua)