PACIFIC NET SECURED WORLD SERIES OF MAHJONG CONTRACT

23 March 2007

CRM provider will handle all telecom and mobile arrangements

The customer relationship management (CRM), mobile internet, e-commerce and gaming technology Chinese company PacificNet has been selected as the official telecom and mobile provider for the "2007 World Series of Mahjong", currently being organised by World Mahjong Ltd. (WML).

The first annual World Series of Mahjong will be held at the Wynn Hotel and Casino in Macau from June 15-17, 2007. The three-day tournament will gather the best mahjong players in the world, competing for the Mahjong World Championship and the guaranteed minimum purse of US $1 000 000, the largest cash prize in the history of tournament mahjong.

WML held the official launch press conference at the Hong Kong Four Seasons Hotel earlier this month. John Hardyment, CEO of WML, expressed his sincere thanks to the sponsors of the tournament, including 3Q1mj.com, Cityline, Blue Girl Beer, and PacificNet.

Tony Tong, Chairman and CEO of PacificNet, commented, "We are delighted to be the designated telecom and mobile provider for the mahjong competition with the largest purse in the world. With an estimated 100 million mahjong players worldwide, mahjong is considered to be the national pastime game of China and it is the most widely played gambling game in the world, especially in China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and most Asian countries."

PacificNet plans to promote the World Series of Mahjong online and via mobile internet portals with many of its operating subsidiaries and internet/mobile partners such as PacificNet Games (PacGames), WAP.MOABC.com, iMobile.com.cn, 18900.com, GZ3G, vs366.com, and Clickcom.com.cn among others.

PacificNet's subsidiary, MOABC.com, is a leading mobile internet portal in China with 11 million registered users and boasts one of the top-ranked mobile internet sites, featuring mobile social networking, mobile games, and entertainment. This free WAP portal provides a variety of mobile internet services such as news, mobile gaming and entertainment services, mobile blogs, mobile email (Mo-Mail), Avatar and virtual pets, mobile online dating, mobile instant messaging, virtual communities, mobile social communities and virtual showrooms to China's increasing mobile phone and internet user base.

"With over 11 million registered users, MOABC is a well-known brand and top-ranked mobile internet site providing fun and entertaining mobile social networking services to the all-important demographic of young and trendy mobile users in China," said Victor Choy, Vice President of PacificNet. "We believe that China's mobile gaming and entertainment market will surge in the coming years as a result of the expected launch of 3G services. We expect strong synergies between the World Series of Mahjong and PacificNet's group of companies in the mobile e-commerce and gaming areas."

The World Series of Mahjong is a 3-day, single-elimination format tournament with a non-refundable registration fee of US $5 000. Payment of the fee will guarantee a player's seat at the tables and a chance to win one of the cash prizes. Prizes will be awarded to the top 32 players.

According to industry forecasts, mobile online games will become vastly more popular with the advent of 3G networks in China. Forecasts frequently note that online and offline mobile gaming differs greatly in terms of their service models. Online gaming uses a telecom service model earning revenues from traffic fees during play, while offline mobile gaming is simply a game application downloaded onto a handset for a small fee. The forecasts predict strong growth for WAP, JAVA and BREW, while the proportion of SMS-enabled games will drop. With over 400 million mobile phone users, China has already become the largest mobile population in the world. Moreover, the number of mobile users is still growing rapidly and has far exceeded the number of pc- based internet users, which is about 120 million, in China.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa

More news here.

Top of page | Home | News | Forum | Webcast | Vortran | Accredited Casinos | Evil Ones | Pitch a Bitch | Online Gambling Resources | Poker