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SCMP Reporter

Local punters can now make bets on horse races and buy Mark Six lottery tickets over their personal digital assistants (PDAs), but hand-held devices will never compete with mobile betting, according to the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

In response to the growing number of people using PDAs in Hong Kong, the Jockey Club launched its PDA expansion module last week.

The Customer Input Terminal (CIT - PDA) connects with the expansion slot on a Handspring Visor and any standard phone line.

'We found it exciting to have over 360 people subscribe to rent PDAs with our expansion modules within six working days,' said Jockey Club spokeswoman Lillian Chau.

Both the Visor PDAs and the expansion module are available for rent at the club. Annual fees are HK$500, with a deposit of HK$1,000 for a Visor Solo model and HK$500 for the module.

However, the Jockey Club does not anticipate PDA betting to become a major trend. Instead, it released the new product just to 'provide some channels [for betting] for specific users'.

'We just want to make sure we have some channels for those who have the hand-held devices,' said Steve Beason, the club's executive director of information technology.

He said PDAs were definitely a good substitute for mobile phones, but they could never replace them. 'Bidding over PDAs can never compete with the one over mobile phones,' he said.

According to Mr Beason, four local telecommunication companies - CSL, Orange, Smartone and New World Mobility - have been providing mobile betting services since last September. Almost 30,000 customers have subscribed to those services.

'We found there was a total of HK$28.7 million betting turnover done over mobile phones in our first five races this season, which was a satisfactory result,' Mr Beason said.

In December last year, PCCW HKT's CSL became the first company in the world to offer the pre-paid SIM card for mobile betting, offering applications for all of the Jockey Club's betting products.

'Asia, specifically Hong Kong, is a leader in mobile commerce and the substantial growth of mobile phone usage would be definitely an advantage for us to develop the mobile betting service,' Mr Beason said.

The Jockey Club has about 868,000 accounts for its telebet members' service, which allows phone, mobile and PDA users to access its betting systems.

The Jockey Club's next step is to look into the technology of mobile betting without the need for a SIM card. 'The security has to be included in the operating system of the hand-held. Then security can be enhanced even without the SIM cards,' said Mr Beason.

'Our technology group and the phone companies are now working hard on that.'

Mr Beason said it was too early to make plans if the PDA system was able to cover soccer betting if it was legalised.

'We have to wait whenever that happens. It is now a matter between the government and the public right now. No matter what the decision is, we will always remain to give services to Hong Kong - which is our style.'

Research organisations suggest there are about 120,000 to 340,000 potential soccer gamblers in Hong Kong.

In June, Secretary for Home Affairs Lam Woon-kwong launched a consultation paper which set out a possible programme for legalisation. The paper indicated the government would favour the granting of the soccer gambling licence to the Jockey Club.

Gambling revenues have dropped from HK$83.4 billion in 1999-2000 to HK$81.5 billion this year. Much of the drop has been blamed on the increasing popularity of gambling on overseas-based Web sites, such as William Hill, Easybets, 007bets and the newly launched Irish Betting Exchange (Betdaq).

It is believed that revenues of HK$20 billion per year could be generated if soccer gambling is legalised in time for next year's World Cup finals.



Hong Kong Jockey Club meets the growing demand for hand-held betting service