The U.S. Department of State awarded L-1 Identity Solutions Inc. a five-year, $107 million contract to produce new passport cards, with the Stamford company reportedly wresting the contract from General Dynamics Corp. following an impasse.
The cards will be used for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), intended to reduce waits at road crossings or ports into Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and island nations in the Caribbean. The WHTI card cannot be used for air travel.
The State Department began accepting applications for the card Feb. 1 and said it would begin mailing cards this spring.
The card will contain a chip that can transmit information on the card wirelessly to electronic devices operated by customs agents. In January, the State Department awarded a $63 million contract to Unisys Corp. to produce the wireless readers.
The State Department intends to issue up to 10 million border crossing for Mexican visa applicants, and Arizona and other states are working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to develop driver”™s licenses that could be used for border crossings under WHTI rules.
In 2007, L-1 had an $18 million profit on $390 million in revenue. The company had 1,820 employees at year end. L-1 generated just over $100 million in revenue last year from two government agencies, which it has not identified by name due to security requirements.
Besides tamper-resistant identification cards and documents, the company produces biometric systems used to identify people by their fingerprints, irises and other features.
