EU regulation: rules Britannia
The opportunities offered by other European countries changing egaming rules to mimic those of the UK model are as great in mobile gaming as in online - but a good platform is not enough to succeed, says Matti Zinder, head of mobile business Spin3.
EUROPE IS EXPERIENCING a wave of regulation reform, facilitating the establishment of egaming industries in new markets.
The recession, coupled with the UK’s obvious success in this field, has led other governments across Europe to look at reforming their policies on gambling to bring about better regulation and raising much needed tax revenue.
Following the saturation of the UK egaming market, which has been the home of the industry in Europe in recent years, markets such as Italy and France are now offering great opportunities for interactive gambling too.
Italian prospects for mobile gambling are especially exciting, and are in fact just as strong as they are online. This is for a number of reasons.
First, Italy offers a level of mobile penetration which is far above the European average. This means that there is a larger pool of prospective customers to target than many other markets.
Second, because you won’t have to base your servers in Italy, companies that are already running online casinos can easily launch an Italian-facing mobile casino with less expense than having to start from scratch or relocate.
What new regulated markets such as Italy offer is the opportunity for any enterprise with a powerful brand to enter the mobile casino industry. But a mobile casino is a business like no other. Great games are not enough. For success in the mobile casino market, you need experience in operating, marketing and supporting an interactive casino business, coupled with a strong back-office management system.
A company that is new to mobile gambling needs more than just the platform. You need the services that support and drive a specifically mobile business.
The mobile opportunities are clear to see; but you need to be in the right position to seize them.
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