Bantry Technologies - VirtuoZino™

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VirtuoZino™ is a complete solution allowing GSM operators to provide value-added gaming services for their customers. The solution includes the application that will run on the subscriber's mobile phone as well as the back-end “over-the-air” server.

Bantry Technologies has developed a complete set of betting games from lottery games to casino games, i.e. scratch card games and Black Jack.

Stakes and winnings are managed through a “token” manager residing on the card and which allows the subscriber to win free minutes of airtime. A bet is placed at the beginning of the game, debited from the player's virtual token purse. The earnings or loses are credited or debited at the end of a game in case of a win.

Re-load and un-load operations are managed in a secure manner by the back-end server, which interacts with the GSM operator's authorisation and billing system.

MobiScratch™: A Complete Set of Scratch Card Games

The scratch card application consists of a generic gambling engine that allows the modelling of almost any scratch card game. A simple customisation engine defines the rules for a specific game (range of bet amounts, possible winnings...). This means that a simple click on the mobile phone transforms the application into a completely new one, with completely new rules and of completely new interest to the user.

The games implemented today are based on the UK lottery games (e.g. Instants Blue, Cash Dreams or Winning 7's), but the implementation of new games is easily achieved by defining a new set of customisation parameters

MobiJack™: The Famous Black Jack Playing Card Game

Black Jack is a card game the aim of which is to reach a score as near as possible to 21, but always under, or best, equal. The game is played against a bank, also called the dealer. Using VirtuoZino™, the GSM subscriber plays alone against the bank that is represented in the application running on the phone.

MobiBooker™: Hound Races, Football Games, Lotto Bookings from your Phone

With MobiBooker™, you can place bets on sports results (such as football or rugby, greyhound and horse races, etc.) or on classical betting games (lottery). After the game, or after the draw, the player is informed of the results and of the earnings. The solution ensures identification and authentication of the player during the game. The server administrates a database of individuals and manages the delivery of the results to the players.

Attractiveness to End-Users

First of all, using the GSM handset as a “gaming console” makes VirtuoZino™ a very social and convivial game that can be played amongst friends anywhere from the schoolyard to the late night discotheque.

Secondly, VirtuoZino™ will be attractive to end-users because of its user-friendly behaviour. The game runs essentially “off-line” - only tokens re-load and unload operations will require SMS messages - which makes it cheaper, faster and smoother to use.

Benefit to GSM Operators

Firstly, the end-user attractiveness of VirtuoZino™ will benefit the operator by reducing its customer churns, attracting new subscribers, and augmenting the “perceived value” of its services. To go further in this direction, operators, by loading minutes of airtime into the application, makes VirtuoZino™ a true loyalty tool.

Alternatively, VirtuoZino™ can be a revenue generating service in itself: GSM operators can operate a gaming service. Also, GSM operators can ask a real casino or gaming operator, with an established brand name, to operate the game's back-office. The operators would distribute this service to their subscribers, and generate revenues by taking a commission on earnings, or by selling the service on a subscription basis.

And last, but not least, scratch card games should enable GSM operators to take an interesting share of the traditional lottery revenues. But more interestingly, in the long term it also enables the operator to become more of a content provider, and therefore benefit from the positive impact this may have on its overall company valuation.

Even though the application doesn't manage real money (the user doesn't win money but tokens), a robust secure architecture has been designed for

VirtuoZino™ because the game generates benefits for the users. It is possible that attackers would be interested in gaining access over the system.

VirtuoZino™ ensures a strong protection of the token re-load and un-load operations based on signature verification. The back-end server is the system authority and manages a master key from which a private key for each subscriber is derived. The back-end server is then able to exchange information in a secure manner without any key repository (the subscriber's key is re-computed by the server when necessary). This guarantees a fully secure but easily deployable architecture.

VirtuoZino™ will be extended with more casino games (e.g. poker, baccara, etc...) and improvements of the gambling engine will enable the modelling of more advanced scratch card games. Games can be added regularly without modifying the interactions with the tokens management, which is implemented once and for all.

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