The O2 in 2006. As part of the investment programme, naming rights were sold to O2 plc, and 'The O2' became the official name of the project on 25 May 2005. The £6 million per year deal between O2 plc and AEG included priority tickets and reserved VIP accommodation for O2 mobile customers. The service was also made available to premium ticket holders. O2 plc started talks with AEG in 2005 to have its logo and branding placed on the roof of the dome, but this did not take place. AEG have constantly stated that they wish to abolish the 'Dome' name
O2 (UK) 23 January 2015, Li Ka-shing, owner of Hutchison Whampoa and the Three network (which operates in the UK) entered talks to buy O2 for up to £10.25bn ($15.4bn). However, the move faced tough scrutiny from competition regulators as it would reduce the number of major operators in the UK, when combined with a potential purchase of EE by BT, from four to three. Hutchison Whampoa had previously acquired the O2 network from Telefónica in the Republic of Ireland, which it has since merged into Three. The combined network would have surpassed EE to create the largest mobile network in the