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Posts: 2 
Location: london
Location: london
June 25th, 2004, 07:36 AM
BROADBAND ISPs could begin mimicking the mobile phone market as they try to cash in on growing demand for games bandwidth.South Korea was showing the way in online games, with cybercafes, or "PC Baangs", buying licences for games and then selling game time to players via pre-paid cards and SMS, Alcatel strategic marketing manager said.
"So instead of having to go and get approval from dad, or even make a commitment for a length of time, new subscribers can do it as and when they like."
The pre-paid strategy could be used by broadband service providers in Australia to increase their traffic.
Another facet of the mobile phone market that could carry over to online gaming was the rise of virtual operators.
Such operators could buy wholesale broadband access from other carriers and add features targeted at gamers, in much the same way that Virgin had entered the mobile market.
Unlike other rich online media, such as streaming movies or television, games had relatively light bandwidth requirements, with a 512Kbps connection being fast enough for most games.
Nevertheless, gamers had high network performance demands.
By attracting local gamers and keeping them "on-net", game-focussed service providers could provide players with lag-free performance and cut interconnect costs to US servers.
BROADBAND ISPs could begin mimicking the mobile phone market as they try to cash in on growing demand for games bandwidth.South Korea was showing the way in online games, with cybercafes, or "PC Baangs", buying licences for games and then selling game time to players via pre-paid cards and SMS, Alcatel strategic marketing manager said.
"So instead of having to go and get approval from dad, or even make a commitment for a length of time, new subscribers can do it as and when they like."
The pre-paid strategy could be used by broadband service providers in Australia to increase their traffic.
Another facet of the mobile phone market that could carry over to online gaming was the rise of virtual operators.
Such operators could buy wholesale broadband access from other carriers and add features targeted at gamers, in much the same way that Virgin had entered the mobile market.
Unlike other rich online media, such as streaming movies or television, games had relatively light bandwidth requirements, with a 512Kbps connection being fast enough for most games.
Nevertheless, gamers had high network performance demands.
By attracting local gamers and keeping them "on-net", game-focussed service providers could provide players with lag-free performance and cut interconnect costs to US servers.
