There are several challenges, which mobile gambling specialists continue to face in expanding the mobile gambling pie. But the very fact that a mobile phone offers the luxury of tapping a user anytime and anywhere overshadows any hurdle in front of the huge potential offered by this medium.
Mobile phones' share of the total gambling revenue may be hovering around one percent, but as highlighted in the past, mobiles are the fastest-growing platform for the likes of Ladbrokes, BetFred and Bet365.
From Ladbrokes' perspective, it signed a deal with Endemol for making popular TV game show Deal Or No Deal available as a play-for-cash mobile game earlier this year. For Ladbrokes, this was the first branded mobile game the betting firm had released.
Probability plc, the AIM quoted mobile phone gambling specialist, is focusing on strategy of recruiting customers to its Lady Luck's mobile gaming brand through direct relationships with mobile operators.
The company is already supplying its casual gambling games to Orange, part of the France Telecom Group. Probability is operating all the games and is responsible for payments, customer service, and all aspects of regulatory compliance. Mobile users are being offered mobile Bingo, jackpot and traditional
Slots, HiLo, Video Poker, and the new "Jumping Jack Cash", all under the "Lady Luck's" brand.
In May this year, Probability plc signed an agreement with Hutchison 3G UK Limited, owners of Three, the largest 3G mobile network in the UK and Europe, to pre-install a permanent link to the company's "Ladyluck's" mobile gambling service on two million new Three network handsets in the UK during 2008. The link to Ladyluck's will be the only gambling content pre-installed on these devices, it was shared at the time of announcement.
According to Probability CEO Charles Cohen, the casual gambling sector is made for mobile. The company says its formula of simple games, easily played on small screens, with the chance to win significant cash prizes for small stakes, is already a proven success.
Among others, 777Mobile is working with life:), the third biggest national mobile services operator of Ukraine, serving 9,4 million subscribers, according to its 777Mobile's founder Yishai Habari. But he didn't disclose further information.
In the past, Habari has categorically stated that challenges related to handsets, mobile operators, technology and legal issues among the others continue to be the major hurdles. But considering all this, he says five nations including the UK, Germany, Austria, Spain and South Africa continue to be the major mobile gambling markets.
About mobile operators, he has mentioned in the past, "Mobile operating portals are clearly the most efficient ways to generate players to our casinos. Mobile operators want to be in the business, but they usually don't understand or don't really take the time to truly understand our business model, needs, and support requirements. Mobile gaming is one of the only business models where the mobile operator is being paid by the provider instead of paying them. It is clear that the payment method can't be premium billing, and CC/Debit/Cash is the only way to go. If Internet Gaming was born in the US it is clear that mobile gaming was/is born in the UK."
But things might be showing signs of changing.
Sharing his viewpoint regarding the same with BulletBusiness.com, Marcel Puyck, CEO, Cellectivity said, "Mobile operators, at least in the UK, are now moving forward with the offering of mobile gambling services."
"What we are seeing is the delivery of responsible services, promoted responsibly, for the enjoyment of their customer base. It is important that the mobile operators act in this way because they form such a crucial part of the market and it can only add to the general credibility of the sector. Customers will therefore be encouraged to see branded services being offered by their mobile operator, which can only be good news for the customer and the market," added Puyck.
There are plenty of opportunities for those who are in mobile gambling. According to Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC), the market will grow at 26 percent CAGR up to 2012 with Asia representing 67 percent of the total market, the UK would take 11 percent with the Rest of Europe 22 percent.
Specifically commenting on Asia, Habari acknowledged that the region offers 10 times bigger opportunities than Europe.
But he categorically says the major concern continue to be the legal issues.
"China is only good if you have local partner, and you can bill locally. Same goes for India," he said.
Going by the developments this year, be it for mobile operators, gaming or gambling specialists or gambling firms, there isn't any dearth of excitement.
But those hurdles especially regulatory ones still remain.
As Habari says, "Yes, it is not against the law to play in most of the countries, but the fact that mobile gaming is unregulated, and we can't really promote our service open wide make things much harder. I think that we are about to face extremely strong legal issues and challenges. It is clearly not allowed to promote Mobile Gaming in Germany, however, what happens when German user gets UK sim card? Is he breaking the law now? After all it is 100% legal to play with UK phone number, and the user is roaming back to UK network."
Surely, last hasn't been about issues related to regulatory environment and jurisdictional barriers to global trade in gambling products. Considering the significance of mobile phones, in this area of convergence and convenience, the progress made by mobile gambling is surely one to look out for.
"My expectation is that the market for mobile gambling and betting will be huge. There is a real move towards this market and every generation of phone users will be more comfortable transacting on their phones," said Puyck.
"At the same time all the remaining other barriers, such as the technology or data charges are disappearing as well. I think that a healthy industry requires innovation and constant improvement of the offering. The industry will need to play to the strengths of the mobile device, and not get carried away worrying about the limitations compared to the online offering, to draw in a bigger audience," he added.
So is the market ready to take off?
"Yes," comes as affirmation from Puyck.
