Police radio firm sold for £2bn

O2 was bought by Spanish giant Telefonica last year.

The parent company of O2 has said it has struck a deal to sell off a business that runs a digital radio network for the UK emergency services.

Spain's Telefonica is to sell the Airwave O2 business for 2.98bn euros ($4.05bn; £2.02bn) to Macquarie-owned Guardian Digital Communications.

The secure network sold by Airwave is designed to offer coverage in remote areas and confined spaces.

The deal is expected to be completed on Friday, Telefonica said.

Police are one of the main users of Airwave - with the service provided to all police forces throughout England, Scotland and Wales as part of a £2.9bn UK government contract.

Fire and ambulance services have also signed up to join the network.

Macquarie said that it expected to see revenue from the business grow by up to 30% in the next two years.

Among its features, Airwave provides an encrypted network, preventing monitoring and hacking, and allows more joined-up communications between the different emergency services, O2 said.

The system also includes technology for screening out background noise, improving speech quality.