BT Cellnet announced today it has extended its sponsorship of the England rugby team for a further four year term. The mobile communications company has been the sponsor of the team since 1995 with its name on England’s match shirts and trainingwear.

This new multi-million pound deal will take BT Cellnet’s sponsorship of the England team through inclusively to the next Rugby World Cup and the 2003/2004 season. The contract gives BT Cellnet a similar strong package of benefits to the current one, which concludes at the end of the 1999/2000 season. This includes perimeter signage, boxes and tickets at Twickenham, and the support of the players for advertising and promotional appearances.

Kent Thexton, Director of Marketing and Sales at BT Cellnet said: ‘Our sponsorship of the England rugby team has been very succesful in driving awareness of our brand to the fast growing mobile phone market. BT Cellnet’s association with the national team is a very prestigious one, and we are delighted that we will continue to build on this for a further four years.’

Francis Baron, Chief Executive of the RFU commented: ‘ We have established a good working relationship with BT Cellnet, and its support of English rugby has been much appreciated by the RFU and the England team over the last five years. We look forward to working with BT Cellnet in the future.’

For further information contact:
Gillian MacCarthy at BT Cellnet:
Tel: 01753 565460
Mobile: 0860 222234

Richard Prescott at RFU:
Tel: 0181 831 6513/ 6514/6558/6626