Invest News DetailMilliyet - Encouraged by fast growth and the positive outlook, British telecom operator Vodafone is intensifying its research and development (R&D) efforts in Türkiye, while setting the stage for the next generation of mobile payment systems. Vodafone Türkiye, one of the fastest growing subsidiaries of the Vodafone Group in Europe, has over 18 million subscribers, and is the second biggest operator in the countryby number of users. Placing Türkiye at the forefront of his presentation in this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao said that Türkiye is the leading country in the new products and services category in the Vodafone Group. Türkiye is one of five countries in which Vodafone will start using the NFC – Near-Field Communications, touted as the next generation of payment systems, bringing credit card functionality to mobile phones. “The first launch of the new mobile payment system developed in partnership with Visa will take place in Britain, Germany, Spain, Holland and Türkiye by April,” Colao told listeners in the congress. The Vodafone CEO also mentioned a special subscription package called the “Farmers Club” made available by Vodafone Türkiye, which specifically suits farmers and agricultural workers. Vodafone Türkiye’s R&D unit Oksijen is developing software solutions for Vodafone’s global networks, as well as for Türkiye. The company’s location-based services application, Vodafone Locate, is used in many of Vodafone’s European subsidiaries.