The competition will start in June 2010 and follows the multi-million dollar launch of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in April this year.
The ECB also announced the introduction of a new Twenty20 League played on Friday and Saturday nights in July and August to replace the current Pro40 competition played on Sundays.
The new domestic Twenty20 competition will serve as the qualifying competition for cricket's Champions League and will comprise all 18 counties, but no additional overseas players.
In a statement to the press the ECB said the timetable and the format of the competition had been agreed by the board after detailed market research which clearly "demonstrated a spectator desire to watch more Twenty20 cricket in July and August”.
The EPL will be staged in June with the Twenty20 League being played in July, August and September and involving five home matches for each team.
