Mobile gambling to hit $12bn by 2010

Mobile phone gambling worldwide will be worth nearly $12bn globally by 2010, according to a new report by analyst firm Juniper Research.

The report attributes this surge to the increasing deployment of multiple mobile payment technologies, as well as the liberalisation of remote gambling legislation in key markets.

Mobile lotteries are expected to be the most popular service by the end of the forecast period, predicting more than 380 million users worldwide.

"Mobile lotteries have already experienced significant levels of adoption in the Far East, while European state lotteries will increasingly embrace the mobile environment in the medium term," said report author Dr Windsor Holden.

Juniper Research added that growth would also be fuelled by market liberalisation such as the UK's Gambling Act which came into force on 1 September, and by proposed amendments to existing legislation elsewhere in Europe.

Furthermore it suggested that, in the longer term, there would be opportunities in the US market, although these would be hampered by current legislation against online gambling.

"The intimations from the US are that the act will be repealed or at least reformed," said Holden.

"Should that be the case in-state mobile lotteries, betting and possibly casino services will be available in that market by 2010 facilitated by location-based technologies."

This change of heart by legislators could well be a result of recent research which indicates that the rise in online gambling has had no discernable impact on the number of problem gamblers.

The report also suggests that global gross winnings from mobile gambling services will rise from just $106m in 2007 to $3.2bn in 2012.

Furthermore, while the UK is currently the largest single market for mobile gambling services, it will be overtaken by the US by 2012.