Pantaloon Retail has tied up with Axion Telecom, a UAE based company for mobile phone distribution, reports the Financial Express. This is a 50:50 JV valued at $40 million, and will be headquartered in Delhi. The new company will source and distribute handsets, set up service centres and provide after sales support. 

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Organized retail will create another channel (off-portal) for distribution of content via scratch cards and bluetooth, as well as create opportunities for pre-loaded co-branded content on handsets. The Mobile Store already retails mobile content, and Mauj had premiered Sameera Reddy content at the store. So far, mobile retail has grown in India on the back of distribution via small retail outlets, and like retail, telecom retail is also getting organized with players like The Mobile Store (Essar-Virgin JV), MobileNXT (funded by HNIs), Subhiksha Mobile, among others.