Setec, a Gemplus Company, Delivers Biometric Passports for Norway's Nationwide Deployment
Vantaa, Finland, November 3 (ots/PRNewswire)
- In a 30 Million Euro Contract, Setec Manages the Entire Norwegian Passport Production Chain, From Personalization to Delivery
Setec, Northern Europe's leading developer and manufacturer of visual and electronic card products, and a Gemplus company, announces today that it has begun the personalization and delivery of Norway's new biometric passports. As of October 2005, all the conventional passports in Norway have microchips with biometric identifiers. Currently, Norway is one of only two countries in the world, alongside Sweden, that has started the mandatory, nationwide deployment of biometric passports for their citizens, compliant with international standards.
Setec manages the entire Norwegian passport production chain. The passport booklets are manufactured by Setec in Finland and the booklets are personalized by Setec's subsidiary, Setec Norge AS, established in Oslo, Norway, earlier this year.
Setec won the international tender for the Norwegian passports in April this year. The three-year agreement with the Norwegian authorities includes an option for two additional years.
The Norwegian biometric passports are developed and manufactured according to the world's most demanding security requirements of the ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, as well as those of European Union. The holder's personal data and digitally formatted facial image are stored in microchips within the actual passport.
Pekka Eloholma, President and Chief Executive Officer, Setec, explains "The timetable for the Norwegian passport project was very demanding as we had to develop a new product, create a delivery and personalization process and establish our new subsidiary, Setec Norge AS, within the six months after winning the bid. However, thanks to the flexibility of our entire organization and its ability for top performance as well as the constructive cooperation with the customer, the deliveries of the Norwegian passports have begun and we are very happy with the result."
"We are happy to report that the start of the launch of Norway's totally new passport has been a success," states Steinar Talgø, Assistant Director, the National Police Directorate, Norway.
Besides Norway, Setec also has begun to manufacture biometric passports for Sweden and has been chosen to deliver also their technology to several other countries including Denmark. Currently, Setec manufactures and personalizes conventional, i.e. visual passports for Denmark and Finland.
Setec has been a Gemplus company since June 2005. The combined references and contract volume makes Gemplus the undisputed leader in the electronic passport and identity card market.
For further information, please contact:
Tuula Wäyrynen
Corporate Communications Manager
+358-(0)9-8941-4532
tuula.wayrynen@setec.com
Jane Strachey
Gemplus Press Relations Manager
+33-(0)442364661 / +33-(0)676493593
Jane.strachey@gemplus.comAbout Gemplus and Setec
Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP) is the world's leading player in the smart card industry in both revenue and total shipments (source: Gartner-Dataquest 2005, Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor). It has sold over 5.5 billion smart cards.
Gemplus delivers a wide range of secure, portable, personalized solutions in areas including Identity, Mobile Telecommunications, Public Telephony, Banking, Retail, Transport, Healthcare, WLAN, Pay-TV, e-government, and access control.
Setec, a Gemplus company acquired in 2005, develops, manufactures and delivers products that require extreme security, such as biometric and visual passports, electronic and visual ID cards, EMV cards and SIM cards. Setec's major customers are public authorities, banks, and telecom operators. The company has operations in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Poland. It employs 400 people.
Gemplus's revenue in 2004 was EUR865 million.
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Contact:
For further information, please contact: Tuula Wäyrynen, Corporate
Communications Manager, +358-(0)9-8941-4532,
tuula.wayrynen@setec.com. Jane Strachey, Gemplus Press Relations
Manager, +33-(0)442364661 / +33-(0)676493593,
Jane.strachey@gemplus.com