Philweb pitches mobile lotto betting to Pagcor

EMBATTLED gaming technology firm Philweb Corp. has proposed to the state-controlled Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) a mobile phone-based lotto betting project which is seen to generate P50 to P100 billion in fresh annual revenues.

The proposal called “Pagcor Text Bonanza” is a revival of a similar project proposed years ago when PLDT/Smart owned 27 percent of Philweb.

A revenue-sharing arrangement of 70 percent for Philweb and 30 percent for Smart was proposed to be maintained. Philweb also intends for Globe Telecom to join if the mobile operator is amenable to the 70-30 percent revenue sharing arrangement.

“The existing Lotto, which is operated by PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office) via sale of thermal paper printed tickets in some 4,000 outlets nationwide, earns for PCSO approximately P30 billion per year,” Philweb president Dennis Valdes said in a letter to Pagcor dated Aug. 24.

“The bettors are required to physically queue at each Lotto outlet in order to purchase their tickets, and during times when the lottery jackpot is large, these lines can extend up to a kilometer long and bettors have to queue for up to an hour under the sun, or the rain, in other to buy their tickets,” he added.

With over 100 million cell phones and 1.5 billion texts per day, Valdes said it’s not difficult to see the advantage of Pagcor Text Bonanza over PCSO’s lotto system.