Mobile phone operators are facing calls from gambling charities to classify themselves as gambling companies and to fund helplines as they increase their activity in the growing mobile gaming market.

This week T-Mobile will become the latest operator to place a bet on the sector when it announces a deal with Cecure Gaming, a Scandinavian mobile gambling group backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, the lead venture capital firm behind Skype, the hugely successful internet telephony service.

The partnership will bring casino-style games developed by Cecure, such as a mobile phone version of Texas Hold ’Em poker, to T-Mobile’s platform.

Despite regulatory concerns, mobile gambling is seen as having massive potential. The market is predicted to surge twelvefold to $16.6 billion (£8.5 billion) worldwide in the next five years, according to Juniper Research, the analyst.

Cecure, which has an agreement in place with Vodafone, will also unveil today a new Blackjack game, which will allow users to bet as much as £10 a hand, which takes about ten seconds to play.

Other gaming groups have acknowledged the medium’s reach. Last week, Camelot, the National Lottery operator, announced a partnership with France Télécom’s Orange that would allow users to play via mobile phones if the group wins a third ten-year lottery licence.

As opportunities to lose money on mobile phones grow, gambling charities are calling on mobile operators to acknowledge the part that they are playing in the games market, and to give money to the helplines that offer advice to problem gamblers.

Nicola Crewe-Read, of GamCare, the gambling charity, said: “If Vodafone, T-Mobile and others are operating in a gaming capacity, they must be prepared to contribute to support services.”

GamCare has called on mobile groups that earn money through mobile gambling to make donations to the Responsibility in Gambling Trust, which distributes money to helplines.

Ms Crewe-Read said: “It is incumbent on the industry to acknowledge that some people do get into problems.”

However, a spokesman for Vodafone, which carries Cecure games on its Vodafone Live! Service, said that the group “did not see itself as a gambling company, but as a channel, and as a result we don’t give donations”.

The spokesman noted that Vodafone had a strict gaming policy, consulted GamCare and “is committed to protecting minors and vulnerable adults”. Cecure limits the amount that gamers can deposit to play to £100 a day.

However, the Gambling Commission, which from September will regulate mobile gambling under the Gambling Act 2005, has voiced concerns about the platform’s suitability, saying in a consultation document that “using a device with a restricted display, such as a mobile phone, for a gambling activity presents difficulties in communicating sufficient, clear, intelligible and accessible information to customers”.

Cecure claims to have about 20,000 poker players, 85 per cent of whom are located in the UK. Its main backer, Bessemer Venture Partners, led the A round financing of Skype in 2003, investing about $1.5 million. Skype was later bought by eBay for $2.6 billion.

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