When Yossi Wellingstein, CEO and co-founder of Celltick Technologies, a developer of interactive broadcast technology, first began exploring value-added services on the mobile telephone, he soon realized that apart from a few dedicated techno buffs, hardly anyone was actually using them. He took the problem to colleagues in the consumer marketing industry, who told him flatly that no- one would use these technologies because they were just too complicated for the average person, who was only interested in using the phone to talk.

"There was a kind of hole," says Wellingstein, speaking from a taxi in London. "A world of applications was being developed, but they were very thinly used. It just wasn't a very compelling user experience. Most users were uninterested in additional applications, and were incapable of using them. We had to find a way to help ordinary people figure out how to use these features."

With this mission in mind, Wellingstein and his team began looking for ways to transform the user experience. Their gaze settled on the screen of the mobile phone, which usually remains blank.

Celltick took over this "idle" screen and developed a technology that would turn it into a kind of mini-TV, or a scrolling newspaper. Instead of seeing a blank screen, users would be sent real-time news and weather, information about sports, health, music or traffic. Any user interested in finding out more about any of these items simply clicks on the OK button. A menu opens and presents various options based on the service offered. This could be a video news report, an automatic link to a WAP site or web page, or an SMS message with more information. A second click launches the desired service.

FOR THE mobile operator, LiveScreen technology enables the establishment of an interactive channel with is mass subscribers, while at the same time increasing revenue from value-added services.

"Whenever you look at the screen, there's something happening, and it's compelling," says 42-year-old Wellingstein, who helped found the Barak international telecommunications operator, where he served as VP of international carrier business until 2000. "It adds value to an established channel, allowing the mobile operator to manage the idle screen."

Right from the start, Celltick realized it was essential that this scrolling information be real data rather than advertising.

"Ads would just make the user angry," explains Wellingstein. Each service provider can decide what information to include, and the user can also personalize this to a limited extent. The content does not interrupt regular service, and does not disturb the user. The customer pays only if he dials for a continuation of the broadcast, not for the initial display.

Celltick's Livescreen technology is a far cry from traditional methods, where users must either navigate complicated menus or mobile Internet sites, or dial various numbers to get the information they require.

Today, mobile operators who have installed the LiveScreen technology have seen the number of users operating value-added services leap from an average of 2-5% before deployment to 25-32% afterward, boosting revenues accordingly, says Wellingstein.

CELLTICK WAS founded by Uri Baron, Ronen Daniel, and Ran and Yossi Wellingstein in early 2000. Seed financing of $3.5 million came from Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), an Italian company, Compagnie Industriali Riunite (CIR), owned by the de Benedetti family, and private investors.

In August 2001, the company raised a further $10m. from British fund Elwin Capital Partners, and from JVP. But then the bubble days of the hi-tech economy ended, and despite raising a new sum, the company realized it had to start cutting costs. Celltick's staff was cut from 60 to 28 (today there are 53), and salaries were slashed.

"During the bubble days, people forgot customers, and forgot that they were the main point of a company's existence," said Wellingstein. "The proof of the pudding is in getting repeat orders. We realized that relatively early in our company's life, and that's what saved us. We cut staff, focused heavily on our customers and their requirements, and looked carefully at what we would need to offer."

The telecom market at that point was in harsh recession, harsher by far than many other areas of hi-tech.

"Our customers were under siege," said Wellingstein. "They were spending very little on new developments, so we had to focus and improve our offering. In a regular healthy environment you tell the operator how much the customer will love the technology. In a recession we had to focus on our offering, and on how it would pay for itself after the first few months."

This meant traveling - a great deal of traveling - according to Wellingstein.

"Daniel [Celltick's VP of marketing] was living on airplanes in Asia," explains Wellingstein. "That's how we got our first sales and financing. We had to take financial risks to make this happen."

The company started selling LiveScreen in December 2002. Its first customer was Hutchison-Whampoa in India. The deal, which was worth $2 million, gave the company vital exposure, and more deals followed. In March 2003, Celltick signed a lucrative contract with China Unicom, one of just two licensed mobile operators in that country. China Unicom is one of the largest mobile operators in the world, with over 80 million subscribers and an annual growth rate of 20%.

Since then, deals have followed with MTN Networks, a Sri Lankan operator; Orange, in Israel, and numerous other operators in Hong Kong, Thailand and Russia.

Today, the company sells to 20 operators around the world. Last year, its sales were in the region of $2m. This year, they rose to $10m.

"I guess this means we no longer have the sex appeal of a start- up," says Wellingstein. The company became profitable in the past few months. Next year, it hopes to see $15m. in sales. "I like to think this is rapid growth," says Wellingstein.

Despite the rise in sales, Wellingstein says the company continues to count pennies. "We have kept stingy, and are trying very hard to minimize expenses," he says.

In March this year, the company raised a further $11m. in its third financing round from JVP and British fund Amadeus Capital Partners. Richard Anton, director of Amadeus, joined Celltick's board of directors.

"Celltick has created an end-to-end solution that will finally succeed in creating mass adoption of mobile value- added data services," he said.

Celltick, which is currently in the process of penetrating the European market, plans to use this money to finance expansion of its global sales and marketing activities. Wellingstein admits that Celltick is now thinking about acquiring other companies either for their technology, their product, or their market share. "Expansion requires acquisition," he says simply.

The company is also planning to expand its team in Israel and London, and to build its sales force by bringing on more sales people around the world. It is also continuing to work on new technologies.

At present, Wellingstein insists that Celltick has little competition.

"We took a very far-sighted approach, and see the market getting there only now," he says. "Luckily, we are still the only ones out there. It won't last, but we have the advantage of being first."

"Celltick enjoys first-mover advantage in interactive mobile broadcasting," agrees Anton. "Its product is the only commercial, tested and deployed offering in the market, complete with content aggregation, delivery, network interface and client handling."

Even when other competition emerges, Wellingstein is optimistic that Celltick will continue to flourish. The global market for value-added data services is predicted to hit $48 billion by 2007.

"The most important thing is to enjoy it," says Wellingstein. "We don't want to suffer our way to success; we plan to enjoy it all the way."