(14 June 2006 8:00 pm)

MUMBAI: With the soccer World Cup in full swing in Germany wireless broadband communications provider Motorola which is a partner of football's governing body Fifa has signed England's soccer captain David Beckham as a global brand ambassador.

The three-year collaboration with Beckham will kick-off with major activities across Asia including advertising appearances and extensive retail promotions rolled out across the network of Motorola stores and distributors throughout the region.

The deal also includes the ability to embed exclusive Beckham content - such as screen savers and video clips of the star in action - in Motorola handsets.

Beckham will commence his brand ambassador role with immediate effect and will be seen exclusively carrying Motorola products during the upcoming World Cup campaign.

Motorola mobile devices VP retail marketing Jeremy Dale said, "We are very excited about this collaboration for ourselves, our customers and our consumers. David Beckham is a global icon and we look forward to working with him across a range of projects. In particular, we're delighted that he'll be using his immense popularity to help promote (MOTO)RED."

The agreement was brokered by Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment

Motorola works in the area of wireless and broadband communications. Inspired by our vision of Seamless Mobility Motorola says that it is committed to helping customers get and stay connected simply and seamlessly to the people, information and entertainment that they want and need. It does this by designing and delivering "must have" products, "must do" experiences and powerful networks -- along with a full complement of support services. A Fortune 100 company with global presence and impact, Motorola had sales of $36.8 billion last year.