The study of the doping process of Bi2Te3 by Pb atoms in wide range of lead concentration ((1.0-80.0) x 10(18) cm(-3)) revealed two distinct areas of influence of the incorporated Pb atoms on changes in free carrier concentration. While at lower concentration of incorporated Ph (up to 20 x 10(18) Pb atoms cm(-3)) the ratio of generated holes to one incorporated Pb atom - Delta p/c(Pb) - falls from value of 1.06 down to 0.55, at higher concentration ((20-80) x 10(18) Pb atoms cm(-3)) the value stays constant. The observed behaviour of seeming electrical inactivity of the incorporated Pb atoms is explained by a point defect model taking into account the interaction between the entering Pb atoms and native lattice defects of Bi2Te3 crystal structure. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.