YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The ArmenTel Staff Training Center has been granted status of a Beeline university.The head of VimpelCom's Staff Service for CIS Countries Galina Voranetskaya said that ArmenTel will become the first of the companies acquired by VimpelCom to have a university of corporate teaching. The university will also be the first of this kind in Armenia. The task of the university is to assist with the concept of the company's development and its strategic goals. The employees to be trained in Armenia will be used in all other branches of the company. In the words of Yelena Kovalchuk, ArmenTel's Director for Organizational Development Issues, the whole staff of the company is now being tested. All those to pass the test successfully will have the opportunity to undergo training. In the last six months, 4,000 employees were trained, while the remaining 1,890 employees will be trained in the next six months. Y. Kovalchuk stated that all those who have a desire and opportunity to be trained will continue to work in the company - regardless of their age. In her words, the company will have to dismiss those employees who are unable or unwilling to undergo training. According to Director General of ArmenTel Neycho Velichkov, the university should help raise the quality of services provided by the company, which will eventually result in a growth of ArmenTel's incomes. He said that all the employees of the company have to undergo training and receive a qualification, but he did not announce the date, starting from which the proper level of services will be ensured. N. Velichkov said that with the aim of improving IDSL service, the company plans to install new equipment and increase the speed of the Internet connection. According to ArmenTel's director, Beeline has already invested more than 130 million USD (80 million USD in 2007, 40 million USD in the first half of 2008) for development of ArmenTel. In addition to fulfiling its licence obligations, the company is also implementing new development programs. The degree of fixed phone connection digitalization currently makes 58% in the country and will make about 80% by late 2008. ArmenTel envisages to reach 100% digitalization.

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