MUMBAI: As part of its services strategy in India, Nokia Corporation is planning to set up a joint venture with HCL Infosystems to sell mobile value added services and entertainment content directly to consumers in India.

The joint venture is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to take off later this year. Once the requisite approvals have been received, the joint venture will be engaged in selling value added services for mobile devices.

Nokia India vice president and managing director D. Shivakumar said, "An important part of our future distribution strategies in India is that we want to ensure that our value added services and entertainment offerings are readily available to all consumers. This arrangement is a natural continuation of our long term collaboration with HCL in India."

HCL Infosystems founder, chairman and CEO Ajai Chowdhry added, "We are excited about this opportunity as we believe it brings further value to our customers and Indian consumers in general by offering seamless mobile value added services and entertainment content."

Nokia has announced its internet services strategy globally under the consumer brand name Ovi with specialized offerings in music, navigation, games and livelihood enhancing services for the semi-urban and rural population in the form of Nokia Life Tools.