On the eve of the 2006 season kick-off, the CFA has unveiled English IP telecom vendor iPhox as the title sponsor of the China Super League.

(Photo source: sina.com)

IPhox become the Chinese top flight's first title sponsor since Siemens Mobile withdrew their sponsorship of the competition before the 2005 season.

At Friday's news conference in Beijing, CFA chief executive Xie Yalong said: "We are pleased with this collaboration. Iphox is a young Internet industry company and is confident it can take this chance to promote its IP phone service in China."

IPhox have reportedly signed a five-year deal with the CFA, worth in the region of RMB80m for the first season, with the investment to increase gradually over the following four years.

According to the latest statistics, China has over 130 million Internet users, with over 29 million using PC to PC phone services.

IPhox's main competitors in the Chinese market are Skype and Vonage.

(sinosoc.com)