Stefano Sordini (CEO of NetShop ISP) discusses the past year and plans for 2022 in an interview with SBC Leaders magazine.
Stefano, NetShop ISP has released a variety of product updates throughout 2022. What are the top three most significant updates and product launches that NetShop ISP has made to date?
We had a very busy year in 2022. Our igaming clients have benefited from some of our key investments as well as data-driven decisions.
The year began with an expansion of the Secure Private Network (SPN), in Europe, Asia, and the United States. This allows our customers to communicate with each other without using any additional VPNs or tunnels.
We conducted a April casino gaming audit for Fugaso, an igaming company and software developer. Our team was proud to have completed such an extensive technical evaluation. Fugaso found the recommendations extremely useful, which allowed it to evaluate its performance and make the appropriate technical changes.
Our expansion in Asia and South America has seen us add three data centers. This is another major change for 2022. Two new Asian data centres are located in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sao Paulo.
We began offering hands-on assistance to clients who were looking for Curacao eGaming licenses in 2015. Although the licensing process is relatively simple in Curacao, it is important to have a good understanding of all legal and regulatory requirements.
Is there a boom country in terms of hosting requests by casinos companies for 2022? Based on the preferences of your customers, which one is most in demand?
Over the past year, we have seen an increase of inquiries about Curacao hosting. Curacao, which is known for having a simple gambling license procedure, remains one of the most appealing jurisdictions for established as well as start-up operators.
It is easy to enter the Curacao gaming market because of the affordability and zero tax rate for foreign-sourced income. Operators will find it easier to diversify their offerings because the ‘one license covers all’ policy makes things much simpler.
In general, Curacao is a welcoming place for online gamblers. We’ve seen a spike in interest since 2022 due to challenges in Malta.
In certain Latin American regions, online gambling has become more popular and will only continue to grow in the coming years. What can NetShop ISP do to help sportsbooks and online casino establish a presence within the region?
We were motivated by the sheer volume of LatAm’s market and growth data, as well as future projections, to deploy private network infrastructure in Sao Paulo (Brazil). Our main service is dedicated bare-metal servers, which are perfect for online and sportsbooks looking to establish their presence in this region.
A database server is required for regulatory purposes in this region. Hosting your website here on a dedicated server will also guarantee quicker access to users.
What has NetShop ISP done to make Brazil a top-tier data center region in Latin America?
Brazil is a rising igaming hub. The country has over 200 million people, with 75% being internet users. The country’s national football team is considered to be one of the best ever. Brazil is a major esports market and this makes it attractive to igaming companies.
You mentioned DDoS Attacks protection in addition to NetShop ISP’s expansion of its global infrastructure. What does this have to do with your solutions and products for igaming suppliers and operators?
Protection against DDoS attacks that amplify are provided by default. There is no need to reconfigure the system. It is included with all billing plans without additional charge. Filtering engines remove maliciously amplified packets while leaving traffic unaffected. Our solution protects against NTP amplification as well as DNS amplification. SSDP amplification is also covered. SNMP amplification is another example.
Our network equipment implements the mitigation and there is no latency in your packet round trip time. We have over 500 Gbps bandwidth in Amsterdam to enable us to apply the mitigation. Additionally, upstream BGP flow specifications rules could be used.
Please share your exciting ideas for 2023. Are we likely to see further expansion in new areas or innovative solutions being launched within the next few months?
NetShop ISP has some great plans and we are looking forward to another fantastic year. We are constantly striving to implement innovative hosting solutions that meet the needs of our partners and customers in igaming. Expanding into new areas is a possibility for 2023.
Read the complete interview in SBC Leaders Magazine at ICE February 2018.
