IndiaRetailBiz

Kishore Biyani-led Future group, which for the two years has been tinkering with the idea of entering high growth telecom retailing big time, is expected to buy air time (mobile talk time) in bulk from large telecom service providers and sell the same to customers by offering SIM cards and recharge vouchers, across the country.

While, the air time retailing plan is expected to be unveiled sometime in early 2010, the group is planning for an annual revenue of Rs 1,000 crore from this business. This revenue stream will form an important part of Future group’s grand plan of achieving retailing turnover of Rs 25,000 crore in the next 4 years.

Talking about advantages of airtime business, Biyani, who was talking on sidelines of the India Retail Forum conference at Mumbai, said that while this business did not require any specific retail format, it provided much longer shelf life.

Future group is believed to have already initiated talks for purchase of bulk airtime with the country’s major telecom players including the sixth largest Tata Communication, which offers mobile dual technology (GSM and CDMA) services across the country.

Future group’s flagship retailing arm Pantaloon Retail (India) is incidentally already having a 50:50 joint venture in place with the UAE’s Axiom Telecom LLC to retail mobile phones, accessories, and services. The joint venture formed two years ago in July, 2007, was apart from developing backend sourcing infrastructure for the Pantaloon’s existing telecom retailing business, was set up to “exponentially” expand and scale up the telecom business of the group.

Axiom– the leading distributor, retailer and after sales support provider of mobile phones, phone accessories, wireless gadgets, memory and storage devices in the Middle East– is expected to create a nationwide network of state-of-the-art after sales service centers for mobile handsets in the country. The joint venture is planning to set up 1,500 specialty outlets across the country in the next 24 months.

After signing the joint venture agreement with Axiom in 2007, Kishore Biyani had said: “The current explosion of the telecom retail market that we are witnessing is breaking new barriers every day. There is no doubt that mobiles will soon be the single largest electronic products retailed in the country. Future Group, with the knowledge and expertise of Axiom Telecom’s systems and process in this area, will be best positioned to retail and service the Indian telecom market.”