O2 (Ireland) fixed line and mobile services are branded as movistar. In January 2009, it was revealed that Ireland was nearly the most profitable market in the world for multinational mobile operators like O2. On 23 March 2009 Vodafone and O2's parent company Telefónica announced a deal to share their existing networks in Ireland and rollout future infrastructure jointly. On 6 April 2011 it was announced that Telefónica O2 Ireland and Eircom had agreed a new network sharing partnership. On 24 June 2013, it was announced that Hutchison Whampoa would acquire Telefónica's Irish mobile operations for €780 million, to be merged into
Legal monopoly Legal monopoly A legal monopoly, statutory monopoly, or "de jure" monopoly is a monopoly that is protected by law from competition. A statutory monopoly may take the form of a government monopoly where the state owns the particular means of production or government-granted monopoly where a private interest is protected from competition such as being granted exclusive rights to offer a particular service in a specific region (e.g. patented inventions) while agreeing to have their policies and prices regulated. This type of monopoly is usually contrasted with ""de facto" monopoly" which is a broad category for monopolies that are not