NEWS

SUN-GAMING Releases Spin for Prizes Advertising Platform for Mobile Phones

With all the buzz in the mobile application industry, many carriers are looking for ways to increase their revenue through value added services to the customers and especially pre paid customers. Sun-gaming, an Orange Premium Content Partner, has released a mobile application that allows customers to exchange prepaid phone credits for prizes from advertisers.

The application has been released in the US last week with a European release set for May 2005 with partners Diomedia and SinTex.

24.2.05

Another Reseller has come on board as Sun-Gaming partner in Eastern Europe . Diomedia is a well known advertising supplier of pictures in Eastern Europe and will resell Adwin. Adwin is an exciting slot game that is usually played for free. Revenue comes from advertising revenue and prize sponsorship. Sun-Gaming is very excited that Diomedia is our new partner as Diomedia has a wealth of experience and contacts in eastern Europe.

High stakes on your handset

U.S. mobile carriers watch from the sidelines as the rest of the world starts cashing in on mobile gambling.
February 14, 2005 Print Issue

When online gambling site GoldenPalace threw down $28,000 last year for a partially eaten sandwich with a crusty resemblance to the Virgin Mary, it became official-the Internet gambling industry has more cash than it knows what to do with. But now with so much money feeding online wagers, the future of gambling is going mobile. Slot-style games, SMS lotteries, and sports betting spreads will clutter cell phones in the next few years, according to a report released at the end of January by Juniper Research.

But only if you live in a country like the United Kingdom , where the government is expected to approve a law in the coming months liberalizing online gambling. If you happen to be a carrier in the United States , where anti-gambling laws proliferate, you will not be part of the expected feeding frenzy.

The forecast figures for mobile gambling are enough to make a croupier salivate. UK-based Juniper Research predicts that worldwide revenues for mobile gambling, which is comprised of casino-style games, sports betting, and lotteries, will reach $19.3 billion by 2009. Windsor Holden, author of the Juniper report, says that mobile gambling will make up roughly a third of the entire estimated $60-billion mobile entertainment market for that year. Mobile gambling already hit $468 million in 2004, and is projected to be a $2.07-billion business by the end of 2005.

But those revenues were generated almost exclusively in Europe and Asia , where many of the networks are more advanced and the laws are far more gambling-friendly than in the U.S. As a result, Juniper cites a resounding zero for mobile gambling revenue for North America in both 2004 and 2005. Companies in countries friendly to mobile gambling are already looking to cash in on the growing kitty, which they view as a sure thing.

"The chances of mobile [gambling] being a huge growth area are roughly on par with the chances of the sun coming up tomorrow morning," says Rob Hartnett, managing director of Dublin-based BETDAQ.co.uk. Betdaq launched a mobile platform for its online sports-based betting exchange in the beginning of 2004, and Mr. Hartnett says that the cell phone offers the general public easy entry. "The PC changed the nature of betting by creating access-with the mobile, you get that in the palm of your hand," he says.

Online casino gambling site Sun Gaming has offered its mobile option "Sunny Slots" for the past three months, and the software has already been downloaded 270,000 times. John Wallis, CEO of Sun Gaming, says the company has spent plenty of money on developing the technology-about $2,800 for each of the hundred different cell phone operating systems. But Mr. Wallis doesn't regret the investment. "There is no question this is the future," he says. "So send money."

Industry watchers say that for the time being all of that cash will ride on the participation of the cellular carriers. Almost nothing happens until the carriers say "go." "For this to achieve really widespread adoption in the near future then operators will have to offer it," says Brian Pellegrini, an analyst with ABI Research. Most mobile users currently can't or don't roam the Internet over their cell phones and when they do, most content travels from the operator's portal. Carriers across all geographies need the revenue from services like mobile gambling, but even those that have already deployed initial services are decidedly wary about various social and legal issues.

The gaming industry believes that financial considerations will win the day, though. "These operators spent billions on their 3G licenses and they've got nothing to sell. They are all doing these deals now," says Sun Gaming's Mr. Wallis. His company is currently talking to two of the largest mobile companies in Europe and is very close to closing a deal. While he won't disclose the carrier, he says, "they want it but they are very nervous about it."

Values vs. Cash

The sticking point for the carriers is less social than legal. They will likely get over concerns on the social front as soon as the cash is in the bank, say analysts. The carriers can only commit if the legislation will back up the gamble. In the U.K. , carriers have rolled out early services while the government has liberalized gambling legislation. Most "remote" gambling in the U.K. , including cell phone-based Internet gambling, has been allowed since the advent of Internet-based gambling.

New legislation is expected to pass in the coming months to break down even more barriers, as well as set up a transparent system to protect players and companies. Juniper's Mr. Holden says that England is mostly engaged in fine-tuning the laws. Because chances are high that people would use these services regardless of legislation, the U.K. government wants to ensure that the public is protected and that service providers are licensed and held responsible for any redress.

The U.K. 's major cellular operators are responding to the open legal road by laying down the framework for mobile gambling services. Vodafone U.K. has partnered with two large sports betting services, TotalBet and Bluesquare, to offer gambling via handsets through its service Vodafone Live. Vodafone spokesperson Ben Taylor says the company "has put a toe in the water rather than jumping in headfirst." The company is the first operator to introduce an age-verification system to calm public concerns, and Mr. Taylor says that Vodafone expects gambling-type products to increase over the coming months.

U.K. carrier O2 has gotten into the lottery gambling game and was chosen by the National Lottery to help offer an SMS version of the national lottery service. Users that are too lazy to walk to the corner store can "Play by Text" and send in their lotto numbers via mobile. The major U.K. operators, including Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, O2, Virgin Mobile, and 3 (which bought one of the three original 3G licenses in the U.K.), see such a booming business that they all got together and drafted a "Code of Practice" which details how they will attempt to self-regulate mobile gambling content.

U.K. cellular carriers feel they have to get a handle on mobile gambling, since a sophisticated enough handset means that players can access content from any Internet gambling company on the globe. But U.K. operators have a legal leg on which to stand. Operators in the U.S. have no such backing, since laws like the Federal Interstate Wire Act make interstate gambling transactions, conducted via telephone or Internet, illegal. U.S. Senator Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), has taken an active role against Internet gambling and has pushed legislation to more strictly define laws against wireless Internet gambling.

That's not to say that U.S. cellular companies are not craving the content. Though no U.S. cellular carriers would admit to any mobile gambling discussions or plans, "they certainly want in on it," says ABI's Mr. Pellegrini. "Whether they can convince the government, that's another story." Verizon and Cingular have recently spent millions upgrading their networks and need high revenue content to justify the expense.

Mobile gambling content would certainly appeal to U.S. consumers, considering Americans make up a large portion of the Internet gamblers in the world. U.S. consumers also have been eager to download casino-type games over cellular that don't engage in actual betting. Seattle-based cellular content provider Dwango Wireless has seen success with its casino-style games and CEO Rick Hennessey says that although he has noticed the success overseas, the company has no plans to launch mobile gambling.

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December 31 2004 :
Sun Gaming signs distribution agreement with Mobile Media Productions.Sun Gaming has signed a distribution agreement with Mobile Media Productions UK to distribute the Sunny Slot Game and the imminent release of the casino suite of games.
This agreement gives Sun-Gaming another partner in the aggregator space in the UK market.

November 18th 2004 :
Sun Gaming signs distribution agreement with SELLTONE for client distribution in France, and Asia.

Wednesday 22 nd September 2004.
Sunny Slot was voted the Best Game Software at Gamefest 2004 at the Mobile Content Expo Held at the EXCEL Center London . A Panel of Industry judges critiqued new game software at Gamefest 2004 and 'Sunny Slot' was chosen by the audience as the best new software.