O2 (UK) telephone line and broadband business of Telefónica UK, trading under the O2 and Be brands. The company agreed to pay £180 million initially, followed by a further £20 million after all customers had been transferred to Sky's existing business. The sale was subject to regulatory approval in April 2013, and was subsequently approved by the Office of Fair Trading on 16 May 2013. O2 began trialling a Near Field Communication (NFC) payment system in 2007. In 2009, O2 was in discussions with large retailers, such as Tesco and W. H. Smith, for the deployment of the necessary electronic point of
O2 (Ireland) their bills on time in August 2008. The Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints concerning advertisements by O2. In August 2010, O2 was warned by the telecoms watchdog, ComReg, that it could not move customers to online billing without their explicit agreement. In March 2011, O2 pleaded guilty to a breach of the Data Protection Act at the Dublin District Court. In March 2011, it was revealed that Denis O'Brien made payments to the Minister for Communications, Michael Lowry, to aid Esat Digifone's licence bid. O2 (Ireland) Telefónica Ireland was a broadband and telecommunications provider in Ireland that traded under the