O2 (UK) first commercial General Packet Radio Service. BT Cellnet, together with BT Group's mobile telecommunications businesses in Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, was part of the BT Wireless division. This was spun off from the BT Group in 2002 to form a new holding company, mmO2 plc, which introduced the new "O2" brand for the businesses. In 2005, mmO2 plc was renamed O2 plc. O2 plc was purchased by the Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica in 2006 for £18 billion. Under the terms of the acquisition, Telefónica agreed to retain the "O2" brand and the company's UK headquarters. O2 plc became Telefónica
O2 Money application for Android and iOS devices. The application will use NFC technology embedded in a phone to access money banked with Barclays via O2. O2 began trials of NFC technology in , with 500 individuals participating in the trial. The individuals used a specific Nokia handset to make payments at selected retailers, and travel the London Underground with transactions made via Barclays. O2 has since been in discussions with large retailers, such as Tesco and W. H. Smith, for the deployment of the necessary electronic point of sale units, and with handset manufacturers, such as Apple and Samsung, to enable