MULTI-MILLION ONLINE GAMBLING DATA CENTRE FOR CAGAYAN

4 July 2008

$3 to $5 million investment in new joint venture


Reports in the Manila Inquirer indicate that IP-Converge, the data centre subsidiary of IPVG Corporation, has partnered with the First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corp (FCLRC) in a joint venture to build and equip a data centre in the Philippines province to provide online gambling hosting services for foreign online gaming companies.

FCLRC holds a 60 percent stake in First Cagayan Converge Data Center, Inc. (FCCDCI), a Philippine-based Internet service and IT solutions e-commerce outfit based in an IT park at the Cagayan Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) in Sta. Ana, about two hours away from the capital city of Tuguegarao.

Total investment in the jv will be somewhere between $3 million and $5 million, FCLRC vice president Rene Nunez revealed this week, adding that FCLRC is already hosting eight foreign companies in Cagayan. These companies operate online casinos, with hosting and support services provided from Cagayan.

CSEZ is the only ecozone allowed by provincial law to licence online gaming as a tourism-related industry. FCLRC hosts a further 18 companies at the main IP-Converge facility located at the RCBC Tower in Makati City. Almost all of these clients have Asia-Pacific-facing operations, according to Nunez.

The partners intend to concentrate all online gambling client services and hosting in the new facility.

"By law, we cannot take in bets from the Philippines and the United States," Nunez told the Manila Inquirer. "We manage the IP traffic." He also remarked that the Asian Pacific online gambling market was booming, with revenues approaching $10 billion.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa