The Isle of Man government has announced the introduction of a network services licence for business-to-business online gaming operators.
The network services licence is a new level of licence available under the existing Online Gambling Regulation Act 2001 and is designed to recognise the B2B relationships that many gaming operators now have.
The licence gives Isle of Man-based gaming operations the opportunity to make their platform available to business customers around the world. The cost of the new licence is £50,000 per year plus £5,000 per overseas customer. Duty will be paid on retained profit at a maximum rate of 1.5 per cent. It is anticipated that this new business model will not only attract new and larger businesses into the Isle of Man but it will also increase opportunities for those businesses already based on the island to develop relationships with companies across the globe. The development team is already talking to a number of interested parties.
Head of egaming development at the Isle of Man government, Garth Kimber, said: “The introduction of this level of licence gives us the ability to satisfy every model of gaming business in the Isle of Man from those selling their platform capabilities to other businesses to those with direct customers. Our system is now in three tiers; network services licence, standard licence and sub-licence. The level of licence required is dictated by the type of B2B relationships a company intends to pursue and covers all gaming activities from sportsbook to poker and involves the same application process.
“All levels of licence are still processed in a maximum of 12 weeks. The creation of this new licence demonstrates our ability to keep pace with the dynamism of the egaming industry without over complicating licensing. There remain many activities such as software downloads and marketing, for example, which can be carried out without the need for a licence as we are focussed on the key issues of regulation, protecting players by ensuring their funds are protected and that games are fair. We must continue to adapt our regulation and approach not only to ensure continued protection for players on our licensed sites, but to remain a commercially attractive jurisdiction to all kinds of gaming business.”
A recent survey of online gaming companies on the Isle of Man estimated that the sector grew by almost 24 per cent in 2010 and is forecast to continue in 2011, with an estimated further eight per cent growth.
