Vocabulary

joint venture – совместное предприятие wireless operator – оператор беспроводной связи advanced – передовой cellular – сотовый to launch – запустить, начать

bodies – учреждения subscriber – абонент brand – торговая марка to surpass – превысить to accentuate – подчеркнуть free calls – бесплатные звонки load - нагрузка

Exercises level II

Finish the sentences according to the text.

…therefore the second million of users shall not keep waiting.

Commercial operation of the network …

3. … a Russian version of the English abbreviation BELCEL that means “Belarusian Cellular”.

4. Free calls within its network …

5. ….has become a father of cellular communications in Belarus …

6. …is enough to provide all the subscribers …

Level III

Make up tag-questions.

BelCel Joint Venture( JV) is the first wireless operator in the Republic of Belarus, … ?

Commercial operation of DIALLOG-SMS started from May 1, 2004, … ?

. More than 3 million text messages have been sent by the subscribers during the pilot operation, … ?

Within several months cellular communications became available in all regional centres, … ?

The second million of users shall not keep waiting, … ?

Level IV

Comment on the popularity of wireless communication.

BelPak

BelPak is the Internet division of Beltelecom, the government owned monopoly that controls Belarusian communication lines. BelPak is the national state provider of the Internet services, the republican data transmitting communication network.

BelPak covers not only the capital and region centres, but also the towns of Zhlobin, Mozyr, Bobruisk, Lida, Borisov, Molodechno, Slutsk, Soligorsk, Baranovichi, Pinsk, Novopolotsk and Orsha. The basis of the network is an integrating system, grounded on the equipment, which allows to build networks using module principles with unlimited number of users.

Expansion of the BelPak data network improves Internet access in our republic. BelPak owns all Internet channels connecting Belarus to the outside world. The rest of providers are reselling BelPak’s services. Many of them offer lower prices, but the quality of their services is far from ideal. Most of them provide an access to Internet by means of a special agreement.

Quite recently, BelPak opened an access to Internet with any login and password from some city telephone lines. You pay for each minute you stay in the World Wide Web and the amount is included in your phone bill.

There is a possibility to use an assigned line, which offers an access to Internet without dialing a phone number. An access quality and speed of such lines is higher than that of common phone lines.

Recently, satellite Internet systems have appeared in Belarus. They offer a high speed access with a high carrying capacity.

Today, there are many companies in our republic, which offer Web-hosting, including designing, developing and maintenance of Internet sites. A number of commercial organizations - subproviders, which got licenses for this kind of activities - also provide Internet access services, as well as corporate computer networks, among which stand out the networks of Belarusian Ministry of Education, the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus, the National Bank. But all the same the major source of information flows spreading about the country's territory is still the BelPak network - a structure of Beltelekom republican association. BelPak tariffs are lower than similar ones in Russia and Ukraine.

To crown it all, telecommunications is one of the internationally recognized locomotives of technological progress and economic development. It allows to increase the amount and quality of intercity and international communication services. And BelPak is the best way to do it.