Press release

• Ireland’s first music venue naming rights deal
• O2 and Live Nation join in a unique marketing partnership
• Custom built specifically for live music, The O2 opens its doors December 2008
• The O2 will bring over 150 events and the world’s top artists to approximately 2 million people every year

O2 today announced that it has negotiated Ireland’s first ever music venue naming rights deal with Live Nation, one of the biggest live entertainment promoters in the world, at the redeveloped Point Theatre in Dublin’s Docklands.   The new venue, to be renamed The O2, represents a significant investment by O2 and Live Nation over a multi-year term in what is a unique marketing partnership.  The O2 opens its doors to the public in December 2008.
 
The O2 is a development of the Point Exhibition Company Limited, made up of Live Nation and Harry Crosbie.  Live Nation operates over 155 music and entertainment venues across three continents and promotes acts as diverse as Madonna, U2, The Rolling Stones and Jay Z. 

The O2 is Europe’s first venue, of its size, which is custom designed for live music.  It is an amphitheatre design and therefore boasts unrivalled acoustics.  The layout also ensures clear sightlines and proximity to the stage for everyone in the audience, due to its unique tiered seating design.  No matter where you are in The O2 you will be close to the stage which will give the venue, despite its size, an intimate feel for both the artists and the audience.  The O2 has a capacity to hold up to 13,000 people who will enjoy some 150 entertainment and live music events in any given year.
 
With O2’s involvement and investment, The O2 will bring significant benefits and a greatly enhanced experience to the millions of people who will visit the O2 to see the world’s biggest acts. 

It also means that O2’s 1.6 million customers will enjoy additional benefits including the ability to purchase tickets up to 48 hours before they go on general release; fast track access to enter the venue; entry to the ‘O2 Bars’ for themselves and their friends and access on their mobiles to unique content from Live Nation events throughout the world. 

Commenting on the announcement of The O2, Danuta Gray, CEO, Telefónica O2 Ireland said: “We are very excited about this groundbreaking naming rights partnership with Live Nation.  As part of the Telefónica Group, O2 in Ireland has benefited from the learnings and experience of our colleagues in the UK and the Czech Republic who have already successfully launched high-profile music and entertainment venues - The ‘O2’ in London and the O2 Arena in Prague - and from our colleagues in Germany who will launch the O2 World in Berlin later this year.

Through this new deal with Live Nation in Ireland, we will use our technology; our expertise in marketing and distribution and our insight into what our customers want to ensure that at The O2 our customers will have a completely new and superior music experience.  In addition, by exploiting the endless opportunities that mobile technology provides, we can extend this experience for our customers to include before, during and after the entertainment event itself.”

Also commenting Damian Devaney, O2’s Marketing Director in Ireland said; ‘We know that for many people in Ireland music is their number one passion.  By embarking on this partnership with Live Nation, we will be part of the amazing experiences that 2 million people will enjoy each year, while at the same time bringing many unique benefits to our customers who want more from their mobile phone company.  It also puts us in a great position to bring the benefits of the ongoing convergence of music and mobile to the Irish concert going public in new and innovative ways, now and into the future.”

Mike Adamson, Chief Executive, Live Nation Ireland, said, “We are delighted to be partnering with O2 on Ireland’s first major music venue naming rights initiative. Without this deal it would have been impossible to make such a major investment in the redeveloped venue, improving on every aspect of what was there before, to create one of the best and most modern live music venues in Europe. 

Teaming up with O2 means we are able to ensure that concert goers will have an experience which, I believe, will be unmatched anywhere in the world. In addition with the improved and increased size and scale of The O2, we will now be able to attract the biggest and best artists, and their full shows, to The O2 for music fans in Ireland’.
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For further O2 queries please contact:

Majella Fitzpatrick / Diarmuid O’Neill / Niamh Boylan
O2 Ireland
086 8142111 / 086 8542255 / 086 3809191

For further Live Nation and Harry Crosbie queries please contact:
Ger Kenny 087 2488393

About Telefónica O2 Ireland
Telefónica O2 Ireland, part of Telefónica Europe plc, is a leading provider of mobile services, offering communications solutions to over 1.6 million customers in Ireland, and was voted Best Company to work for in Ireland in 2006.

Telefónica Europe is a business division of Telefónica comprising mobile, fixed and DSL operations in the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - all of which use ‘O2’ as their consumer brand. Telefónica Europe also has 50% ownership of the UK and Irish Tesco Mobile and German Tchibo Mobilfunk joint venture businesses. 

About Live Nation
Live Nation is the future of the music business.  With the most live concerts, music venues and festivals in the world and the most comprehensive concert search engine on the web, Live Nation is revolutionizing the music industry: onstage and online.  Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol "LYV." Additional information about the company can be found at www.livenation.com under the “About Us” section.

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