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SHENZHEN APPEARED TO be in a philosophical mood at the end of last week when its telephone numbers were upgraded from seven digits to eight digits.

Some believe the history of the telephone industry mimics in miniature the city's explosive development; telephone numbers have been upgraded four times in 10 years.

When the Shenzhen Telephone Bureau was established from a county telephone department in 1979 there were 2,700 telephones, many of them hand-crank phones.

There were no private telephone lines. The numbers were mainly owned by party and government organisations and officials.

Private telephone numbers, like cars and private houses in those days, were one of the hottest properties and only the most privileged had them.

Shenzhen numbers started at four digits, upgraded in 1982 to five digits, six in 1988 and seven in 1993. In 1997, the last village in Shenzhen was connected with telephone lines.

In July 1998, Shenzhen reached the one-million user level.

While Shenzhen may not be the city that has the highest number of fixed-line users, it has the widest use of telephone cards and public phones. A large number of migrant workers live in temporary shelters or cannot afford a fixed line.

Shenzhen sees the upgrade as a symbol of belonging to the eight-digit club, a move it considers significant for solidifying its position as one of the mega-cities in China.

It became the 12th city in China to achieve the eight-digit status held by major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Shenzhen is the youngest and the only new city in the group.

'Be it China or internationally, there are few cities with eight-digit telephone numbers,' said Mai Xin, the director of Shenzhen Telecommunications.

'[The upgrade] will inject a new momentum to the city.'

The seven-digit system could only provide seven million usable numbers; and the more than five million numbers accounted for 84 per cent of resources. According to official figures, with eight-digits the city should have enough for 30 years.

Mayor Yu Youjun said the upgrade reflected demand from its fast-growing economy, signifying the huge potential in high-technology and telecommunications industries.

'It can also improve the investment environment of Shenzhen and increase the international profile of the city,' Mr Yu said when receiving congratulations from Minister of Telecommunication Industry Wu Jichuan.

Shenzhen had been hoping it could obtain a two-digit area code, as is the case for Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

'We applied for the 26 area code but Beijing said it had other arrangements,' Shenzhen Telecommunications Bureau deputy director Li Yisheng said.

'It doesn't matter though, eight digits still proves the size of the city,' Mr Li said.

The mammoth upgrading project involved 2.4 million users, 24,000 public telephone outlets, 8,700 bank machines, 50 security firms' platforms and more than 40 call centres.

Shenzhen was careful in selecting its numbers for the upgrade. Users do not want four, which sounds like 'death', but prefer eight, a sign of prosperity.

The upgrade will make the seven-digit 8888888 number less valuable as it now has a two prefix but will see the birth of a new darling on the market - the eight-digit 88888888, which could fetch hundreds of thousands of yuan if put out to public auction.

Telephone numbers that start with two, three and four will now be preceded by an eight.

Numbers that start with five, six, seven and eight will now begin with a two.

Three-digit public numbers such as the telephone directory, emergency and government hotlines will not be changed.

Hong Kong and overseas callers will be able to call the seven- and eight-digit numbers until December 28. However, local and domestic callers are only allowed this month.

Despite general enthusiasm, some analysts queried the government's decision to spend 100 million yuan (about HK$93.7 million) on the project, saying it was more politically oriented than economically sound.

'I think Shenzhen should try to contain its size rather than encouraging it to grow out of control,' Shenzhen University economist Zhong Jian said.

'Shenzhen has reached saturation. The city already finds it difficult to accommodate seven million people. Did it upgrade so that 10 million can live here?'

From a fishing town of 30,000 people, Shenzhen has grown into a mega-city in only 20 years.

However, the exponential growth in the population has not only caused infrastructure to lag behind economic development but has also led to great constraints on natural resources.

Shenzhen has a land area of 76 square metres per person, against 100 for other key cities, and 550 cubic metres of water per person per year, only one-third of national average.



Shenzhen hails eight-digit phone number as proof of city's stature