BEST BUY, the giant American electronics retailer, has teamed up with Carphone Warehouse to create an army of computer specialists to help consumers struggling with the digital revolution.

Best Buy’s Geek Squad was one of the pioneers in offering IT help to consumers.

In America, it has 15,000 “agents”, who are styled as a humorous and techie version of the FBI. Agents wear uniforms, carry police-style badges and have adopted the Volkswagen Beetle as the Geekmobile. The Geek Squad declares it will “campaign across the country, infiltrating Best Buy retail locations to systematically root out any computer problem and offer technological guidance to all those who seek it”.

Carphone Warehouse will establish a 50-50 joint venture with Best Buy to service customers in the UK and across Europe. The European Geek Squad is expected to launch in January.

The move by Carphone comes hot on the heels of a similar move by DSG International, the company that owns Currys and PC World. DSG last week announced plans to invest £50m in TheTechGuys, a team of 3,000 experts able to offer technology help.

Both Carphone and DSG are betting that the rapid adoption of broadband, wireless networking, high-definition television and other new technologies will pose a big challenge for consumers. They believe many people will be willing to pay to have someone else deal with the technical problems.

Carphone hopes the Geek Squad will enable it to build on its reputation for good service and strengthen its brand.