Expanded National Lottery Coverage
After discussing a potential National Lottery broadcast partnership with both ITV and BBC, U.K. National Lottery operator Camelot has entered into exclusive negotiations with BBC that will see expanded National Lottery coverage, likely beginning in September 2006. BBC will continue to show Saturday night draws on BBC One, and will also add new programming for Wednesday night draws, BBC daytime schedules and local radio and TV. Additionally, new content will be deployed via BBC's interactive television, Internet and mobile channels.
European Parliament Considers World Lottery
Online news source Europe Information Service reports that the European Parliament would like to set up a world lottery to generate extra resources for development aid. A resolution with language concentrating on the financing of Official Development Assistance and the challenges arising from world property was adopted during a plenary session in Strasbourg on Feb. 16. Proceeds of such an operation would supplement, not replace, the budget provided by member states, which have pledged 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product to Official Development Assistance in 2015. The European Parliament has also asked EU governments to launch a feasibility study into the world lottery.
Mobile Lottery Proposed in Vietnam
Lotophone, a company that provides a solution for selling lottery tickets via mobile phones, has submitted a plan to offer such a service in Vietnam to the Ministry of Finance and Hanoi's Peoples Committee for approval. Lotophone is also working on an Internet lottery. Vietnam's modern lottery system emerged in 1999 and has shown a growth rate of 17 percent per year since.
Action in Mexico
eLOT, Inc., a U.S.-based company that wants to facilitate the sale of lottery tickets over the Internet, announced that it has received a patent in Mexico that covers the company's system for purchasing state and government lottery tickets over the Internet. The patent is based on other patents the company received in the United States in 2002 and 2004 for its operating system, which includes a daily number draw, LOTTO and instant lottery game products purchased and played over the Internet and sold either on a daily basis or through a long-term subscription.