New Delhi, Sept 28: Semiconductor Company ST Microelectronics is in talks with Indian telecom service operators and banks for tapping the local market in a big way for smart cards besides firming up plans to customise these cards in the Noida based centre. "We are talking to banks and telecom companies for ATM, debit and credit cards and sim cards", Pradeep Kumar, country director, ST Microelectroncis India told.
The company will do the customisation of smart card chips for telecom service companies and banks in the Noida centre, he said.
ST Microelectronics' smart card initiative got a major push when the company acquired two companies -- Belgium based Proton and Italy based Incard -- two months ago.
Smart card is a plastic card with a microprocessor chip mounted on it, capable of storing and processing data.
Kumar said ST Microelectronics was growing in operation and would be a 1500 professional strong organisation by year-end or the first quarter of the next year from the current 1250.
"We already have eight divisions and these divisions are going to grow in the areas of telecom peripherals and automotive, wireless communications, hard disk drive, computer peripherals" he said.
The world's third largest semiconductor company, ST Microelectronics has been strengthening its India operations for quite sometimes now.
ST India has more than 60 patents of which 34 were files in 2002.
Bureau Report