The world's first national lottery to go online has kept the Republic of Finland on the cutting edge of interactive gaming technology by introducing a new-generation gaming platform called "OnNet2."
The new platform, which was launched Feb. 5 by lottery operator Oy Veikkaus AB for the Finnish National Lottery, opens up new possibilities for the development of real-time-betting games that entail wagering on sporting events during the games.
The entire offering of Veikkaus' coupon games-both sports betting and games of chance-is available for registered Finnish players through the Internet and mobile self-service channels, as the system is connected to GTECH's online system. The new OnNet2 system additionally provides expanded development opportunities for games played only through Internet and mobile channels. It will also be possible to develop instant lottery games on the platform.
Thanks to the system's scalable three-tier architecture, capacity can easily be increased to keep pace with continuous growth in the number of registered players. The new architecture also facilitates multi-channel user interfaces to provide gaming through new media, such as digital interactive television.
The system was successfully deployed according to schedule after 18 months of development. The Finnish software company Softplan is Veikkaus' system development partner.
Popularity of I-Gaming on the Rise
The Finnish lottery's Internet gaming sales have doubled each year for the last five years. In January 2002, OnNet set a new weekly sales record of over 1.1 million euros, representing over 6 percent of Veikkaus' total weekly sales. About 180,000 players have registered for OnNet to date.
Sports betting games are the most popular games among registered Internet players, accounting for more than half of OnNet sales. However, the lottery has recorded a steady increase in the proportion of overall OnNet sales generated by games of chance such as lotto.
Veikkaus' Venture into New Technologies is No Surprise
Finland's blue-cross flagship is, of course, mobile phone manufacturer Nokia, which accounts for 20 percent of Finnish export. As of 2001, 45 percent of the Finnish population were Internet users and 3.9 million Finns used mobile phones.
In 2000, the turnover of the three biggest game operators, Veikkaus, RAY and Suomen Hippos, totaled EU 1.742 million , of which the share of Veikkaus was EUR 1.083 million. Spending on money games in Finland in 2000 was EUR 335 per capita.
Veikkaus launched its online lottery service in December 1996.