Macao Post Daily quoted sources from Macao Telecom Company Ltd. (MTC), which dons the Internet service monopoly in the region, as saying that the number represents 18.2 percent of the region's population, which stood at 482,000 in September, 2005.

The number of Internet surfers stayed at 68,000 in 2004 and is expected to hit 100,000 in 2006, the sources were cited.

The MTC has cut the monthly charge by 19.4 percent in a bid to attract more Internet subscribers, the newspaper reported.

MTC, which provides fixed and mobile telephone services, launched the broadband program in 2000. Enditem