The Singapore telco - the Republic's largest listed company - yesterday announced that it had secured the title sponsorship of next year's inaugural Singapore F1 race, to be held on Sept 28.

SingTel Group CEO Chua Sock Koong said the telco was delighted at being a part of history - the race will be the first street grand prix in Asia, and the first in the world to be held under the stars.

SingTel declined to reveal the length of the sponsorship deal, or how much it was worth.

However, The Straits Times understands that about US$10 million (S$14.5 million) was needed to secure the naming rights.

The average cost of an F1 race's title sponsorship is about US$8 million, though Spanish bank Banco Santander reportedly forked out just US$5.4 million for the naming rights for this year's British Grand Prix.

Analysts said that it was understandable that the Singapore event would attract a bigger sponsorship, given its novelty as the sport's first night race.

SingTel will get quite a lot of bang for its buck - a global audience of about 600 million is expected to watch the race live on TV. In addition, 120,000 spectators from all over the world are expected to be here for the race.

Ms Chua said as much in a statement: 'The world is watching, and this is a great event upon which to position the SingTel brand on an international level, as well as reinforcing Singapore's image as an exciting global city.'

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone also welcomed the news, adding that the sponsorship would 'give SingTel the platform to achieve global recognition of their brand'.

SingTel, Asia's biggest telecommunications group, reported earlier this month that revenues rose 10.9 per cent to $3.7 billion.

Growth was helped by strong performance from its investment in overseas telcos such as Australia's No.2 mobile operator Optus and India's Bharti Airtel.

However, the Singapore market - with revenue up 9.6 per cent at $1.21 billion, while net profits rose 3.7 per cent to $830 million - remains a very important component.

F1 will not be SingTel's first foray into sports, having gone into local football with both the national team and Singapore's professional league, the S-League.