PSI Seeks Partner for Its ‘Push-to-Talk’ Mobile-Phone Software

(...) “The software has the potential to become part of the youth culture similar to the success of SMS and Twitter,” Chief Executive Officer Harald Schrimpf said in an interview, alluding to the short-messaging social network.

“We are open for partnerships and perhaps there is someone who is willing to invest with us.”

PSI’s push-to-talk and locating software works on almost all mobile phones with a common network or a wireless local area network connection, Schrimpf said. The program lets groups of people talk to each other on demand, locate them on a map or message them. As many as 1,000 participants are currently using PSI’s push-to-talk software. Twitter’s Internet messaging service reached 20.1 million U.S. subscribers in June, according to researcher ComScore Inc.

Berlin-based PSI’s software “has the potential to become big,” said Julia Reichhart, telecommunications analyst for Pierre Audoin Consultants GmbH in Munich. “The question is though, do I really want everyone to know where I am? The usage of Twitter or Facebook has shown though that the inhibition threshold in this regard has declined.”

Extra Revenue

(...) Push-to-talk accounts for about 10 percent of PSI’s telecommunications revenue. A bulk of the company’s sales comes from software to manage pipelines and power networks of companies such as E.ON AG and OAO Gazprom, for steel production at ArcelorMittal and systems at phone companies such as Vodafone Plc and Deutsche Telecom’s T-Mobile.

Second-quarter net income rose to 1.3 million euros ($1.9 million) from 1 million euros a year earlier. Sales rose 14 percent to 34.7 million euros. PSI’s shares have more than doubled this year in Frankfurt trading, giving the company a market value of 131 million euros. The stock closed at 8.35 euros on Sept. 23.

The company currently has 10 customers testing its push- to-talk products, including trucking and taxi companies that want to coordinate the whereabouts of their drivers. PSI has created a new unit to target the consumer market.

New Competition

PSI sees sales to consumers as an extra source of revenue, Schrimpf said. Its current focus remains on earning money from the push-to-talk software in the business sector, where it’s helping companies replace radio systems and cutting costs as much as nine tenths, he said.

As many as 1,000 participants are currently using PSI’s push-to-talk software. Next year, that number could rise to 8,000 as the company extends its infrastructure to prepare for the private market by 2011.

“Whether these products will be successful is difficult to say,” Reichhart said. “It’s important to have the right partner to gain prominence quickly so few competitors will copy the product.”

Vodafone Alliance

PSI could team up with Vodafone as a marketing partner for push-to-talk technology as the companies already work together, Schrimpf said. (...)