BT Wins Pakistan Deal

LONDON -- National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA), Pakistan has selected BT to provide a satellite-based solution linking remote sites across the country to its registration database in Islamabad.

NADRA is embarking on a major initiative whereby Pakistani nationals, whether living at home or abroad, have been collated on a national database. To date NADRA has issued over 70 million ID cards and delivered on a BOT (Build, operate and transfer) basis, the first e-passport system in the region.

NADRA has further been entrusted with providing public services to the citizens of Pakistan directly through products like Verisys [Verification system], bill payment machines and indirectly by delivering turn-key projects like machine readable passport, vehicle identification and management systems.

All of NADRA’s products and projects necessitate the accessing of a central database by the clients at remote locations both internal and external to NADRA. Thus a network is required that is almost always available, secure, reachable in far flung areas, scalable to a large size, centrally manageable and flexible to adapt to the dynamic nature of data traffic requirements. The number of geographically dispersed sites in Pakistan needing such exceeds 1500. The satellite based network ensures that NADRA can negate all the current barriers and reach the masses with the personalized services.

BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA)