Following the changeover - expected to start in 15 days or as soon as Puneites get used to the changed STD code - the once-upon-a-time lazy and laidback pensioners' paradise will fall into the big city bracket so far reserved for Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Madras, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

Closure of the C 400 electro-mechanical exchange will make Pune one of the handful of cities that can boast of complete digitalisation. Even Mumbai has not gone in for complete digitalisation yet. ``The change in code from 0212 to 020 is a step up for us. Pune has gone into the big city bracket,'' says principal general manager Nirmal Swaroop. Shortening of the code has been done basically to accommodate seven digit numbers a la all big cities.

``Once people get used to the changed code, we will slowly bring in seven digit numbers,'' confides Swaroop. For a fortnight, Pune Telecom will keep both the old code as well as the new operational. If after 15 days a majority of the callers have switched over to the new code the old one will be discontinued and the change to seven digit numbers will start, explains Swaroop.``In all big and busy cities, seven digit numbers have now become a necessity as they give wider capacity. With six digit numbers we cannot go beyond six lakh phones, but with seven digits we can give consumers up to 60 lakh phones,'' he says.

At present Pune has touched about three lakh but what makes the situation saturated is that various levels have been reserved for different categories. At present the levels available in Pune are two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight. Level nine is reserved for ISD and level one has been fixed for special services like telephone enquiries, complaints, police and fire brigade. The entry of private operators has lead to more shared levels. Hughes Ispat, slated tough competitors for Pune Telecom, are testing at the level 40.