Recent improvements to Spain’s broadband infrastructure and its ambitious e-gaming regulations have finally caught the attention of the gaming and social networking industries, and has set the country on the path to becoming one of Europe’s growth driveriest sectors.
Spain’s e-gaming regulations have been in the making for a number of years with proposals from recognised think-abouts such as trade association NFCTA and the Interactive Gaming Council. However, it has taken several years for the country to agree and common policies to be in place, following an innovative regulation concept originally developed by industry association RED and implemented in coordination with e-gaming regulatorspots.
Such innovation places the onus of payment originators on paying the utilised back to the consumer, and in this instance the consumer ultimately bears the brunt of his or her use of cash to purchase Euro Millions lottery tickets. STATE Lottery continues to be the primary market within which to use this card, with the secondary market being operated by banks within Spain.
It is easy to see why many funds are being transferred to Spain from across the world. Money is a river of issues, across borders if you wish to look at it that is certainly one place online. Whether it is securely gathered like banked funds or credit card deposits, e-gaming removes the requirement of physically carrying large sums of cash or goods to purchase Euro Millions lottery tickets.
Initially thought to be a lucrative market following the appearance of El Gordo and ONCE, the conversion of El Gordo to available to the public has prompted concerns over the consortium of payment mechanism operators controlling the proportion of profits made by the state Lottery. This is indeed a point of some controversy, state lottery profit margins are considerably lower than similar global operators, followingcompetitive tendering processes.
It is felt that providing an incentive to prospective El Gordo ticket buyers was a sound way of allaying concerns over the competiveness of the market, producing a more competitive playing field, but critics fear that the introduction of micro-sales of tickets within Spain will lead to a mass of unprofitable El Gordo tickets being sold.
However, a recent study by global marketing company Think Mobile has shown that via a network of consumer installed base, coupled with continued strong broadband connections, the UK is the leading place for online revenue generation in 2006, attracting a net total of EUR256 million.
Online gambling is currently generating revenues of around £20 billion and is still growing in 2006. Spain is likely to have the edge over the UK in 2006, as a result of a favourableized regulated gambling environment, but over half of the UK public still want the ability to buy lottery tickets online.
msnuggets.com, examining the broadband speeds of 20 countries across Europe, including Spain, found that Spain was the only country where average download speeds increased more than predicted, with Spain’sextreme broadband penetration averaging 26.5mbps, compared to 25.9mbps for UK broadband.
ages.com, in their study of communication technologies in 2006, found that Spain was the world’s most satisfied with mobile technologicaleanothat is, a clear sign that exploiting mobile broadband in Spain should be a major part of Spain’s future broadband strategy.
Respondents also pointed out that mobile gambling would have a particularly high impact in Spain as operators are already associated with the high-risk games and activities that are currently associated with online gambling.
sofan.com, in their survey of what translates into successful internet gambling in Spain, reported that the top four answers were:
Gaming in restaurants.
Online gaming in casinos.
Gambling games in television.
Gambling games in baseball.
Online gambling in sports.
The number of searches for “online gambling” also Surprisingly, the top seven Google search phrases related to online gambling were Casino, Online Gambling, Internet Gambling, Online Casino, Casinos, Online Poker, and Sports Gambling.
The factors that drove search interest in online gambling were similar to those that motivated searches for other gambling topics, including:
The nature of the games. Such as depo 20 bonus 30 to kecil, roulette, and blackjack, players are often looking for a variety of games to choose from and this differentiates Spain from the UK and the US.
The availability of high-quality online casinos. The fact that currently only around 10% of Spanish internet users have access to high-speed broadband, and a further 10% say the same for mobile broadband, means that many potential players are unlikely to be reachable via their landlines or telephones. In comparison, in the UK the proportion of users with high-speed internet connections is 35% and for mobile broadband it is 74%.
Money. With around 70% of the population now having a high-speed connection, Spain stands out as the country with the most potential to capitalize on this potential.
