Turkey Leading the Way in NFC

Western Europe can learn from the Turkish NFC (Near Field Communication) services market according to  mobile industry analyst, Mario Fernandez of Frost & Sullivan. Fernandez says that Turkish operator Turkcells launch of a new mobile wallet service is evidence of the fact that Turkish consumers are more aware of the technology than consumers in other countries. 

“Western Europe can draw valuable conclusions from the Turkish case study,” says Fernandez. “Turkish mobile operators circumvented the shortfall of NFC handsets by implementing NFC bridge technologies. In this way, they have educated users on NFC, and also have established a solid foothold for introducing more sophisticated offerings in the future. If Western Europe is to witness the commercialization of NFC, market participants need less negotiation and more acting.”

Turkcell was among the first mobile operators in the MEA region to roll out NFC payment technology, but was soon trumped by Avea which launched itsown service in December 2010. “Turkcells latest NFC offering is perceived as a strategic response, which will benefit not only Turkcell itself, but also Avea, and indeed the NFC services market in Turkey, one of the most developed to date,” says Fernandez. “With more NFC offerings in the Turkish market, the awareness about the benefits of the technology among users will increase, thus, facilitating the introduction of further NFC offerings.”