Gemalto to Provide 2.5 Million National ID Cards to the Sultanate of Oman

Amsterdam and Muscat, Sultanate of Oman (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Selected in the Second Phase of the e-government Programme,
Gemalto Will Upgrade the Cards With e-purse and e-government
Applications

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), a world leader in digital
security, today announces that the Sultanate of Oman has selected its
technology to implement the second phase of the country's national ID
program. The contract appoints Gemalto to provide an update of the
current National Registration System, integration services, as well
as to supply smart ID cards that will enable the Sultanate of Oman to
provide faster and more secure public services to its population. The
program, scheduled to begin at the end of 2006, involves over 2.5
million national ID cards.

The Sultanate of Oman's national ID card program is the first
smart card-based e-government solution ever deployed in the Middle
East. It is part of the Sultanate's policy to improve the quality of
public service and homeland security infrastructure. Its core
objective is to modernize the Sultanate's identification system and
processes, making it more efficient and secure, both for government
authorities and citizens. As part of this objective, the creation of
a National Registry System will become the pillar of all future Omani
e-Government initiatives. In addition, the Sultanate of Oman is
aiming to develop new technical skills within the Royal Oman Police
force, the local authority managing the ID program.

The first phase of the ID program, that began in January 2004, has
enabled more than 1.2 million Omani citizens and residents to benefit
from a secure and convenient identification means that stores
personal credentials such as name, address, digital photograph,
fingerprints, driving license, etc. In addition to digital
identification, electronic gates have been implemented for border
control. In the near future, the national ID card will integrate an
electronic purse as well as e-government applications.

Xavier Chanay, President Gemalto CISMEA comments: "By implementing
the second phase of the national ID program, the Sultanate of Oman
achieves another technology milestone in the Middle-East. The
Sultanate recognized that digital security technology provides the
ideal means to manage personal credentials, while increasing the
quality of public services. Through this program, the Sultanate is
taking a leading position in the region, taking the benefits of
digital security technology to a national level. The contract also
further reinforces Gemalto position in this important new growth
market."

Note to Editors

By becoming the earliest adopter of smart card-based national ID
cards in The Gulf region, the Sultanate of Oman is standing at the
forefront of the global e-Government trend. Over the past few years,
there has been rapidly growing awareness amongst governments
worldwide of the necessity to develop nationwide IT infrastructures
in order to deliver more secure, efficient and convenient ID services
to their citizens. The growing need of governments to effectively
authenticate remote users, combined with the increasing concerns of
traditional ID theft and fraud, has influenced technologically
proactive governments in Belgium, China, Finland, Hong-Kong, Japan,
Macao, Sweden, USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and many more to convert
to smart card-based ID solutions. Through this innovative ID program,
the Sultanate of Oman is now joining this group of leading IT
nations.

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is a leader in digital
security with pro forma 2005 annual revenues of EUR1,7 billion
(US$2.2 billion), operations in 120 countries and 11,000 employees
including 1,500 R&D engineers. The company's solutions make personal
digital interactions secure and easy in a world where everything of
value -from money to entertainment to identities- is increasingly
represented as bits and bytes communicated over networks.

Gemalto thrives on creating and deploying secure platforms,
portable and secure forms of software in highly personal objects like
smart cards, SIMs, e-passports, readers and tokens. More than a
billion people worldwide use the company's products and services for
telecommunications, banking, e-government, identity management,
multimedia content, digital rights management, IT security and other
applications. Gemalto was formed in June 2006 by the combination of
Axalto and Gemplus International S.A. For more information please
visit www.gemalto.com.

Gemalto, Media
Emmanuelle Saby
T: +33-1-55-01-57-27
M: +33-6-09-10-76-10
Emmanuelle.saby@gemalto.com
Investor Relations
Stéphane Bisseuil
T: +33-1-55-01-50-97
M: +33-6-86-08-64-13
Stephane.bisseuil@gemalto.com
TBWA�porate
Emlyn Korengold
T: +33-1-49-09-66-51
M: +33-6-08-21-93-74
emlyn.korengold@tbwa-corporate.com

ots Originaltext: Gemalto
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Gemalto, Media, Emmanuelle Saby, T: +33-1-55-01-57-27, M:
+33-6-09-10-76-10, Emmanuelle.saby@gemalto.com. Investor Relations,
Stéphane Bisseuil, T: +33-1-55-01-50-97, M: +33-6-86-08-64-13,
Stephane.bisseuil@gemalto.com. TBWA�porate, Emlyn Korengold , T:
+33-1-49-09-66-51, M: +33-6-08-21-93-74,
emlyn.korengold@tbwa-corporate.com