New Guinea stops SMS gambling

Authorities announced that local mobile providers won’t be able to offer gambling services.

New Guinea.- The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) from Papua New Guinea reported that local mobile service providers won’t be able to provide gambling services via SMS.

Paulus Ain, commissioner of the ICCC, claimed that the office had been trying to regulate SMS gambling for a while. He said that all these operations are required to have the approval of the National Gaming Control Board (NGCB). The office had warned the operators multiple times but they didn’t comply, therefore they decided to cancel the services.

New Guinea passed the Gaming Control Act ten years ago: lotteries, sports betting, poker, casinos and online gambling were authorised under the new regulatory scheme. Although they passed the legislation, local residents were banned from playing online games. The South Pacific Independent State still doesn’t have a land-based casino.