Western Union ends telegram service

The company more popular for their services of transferring money from one corner of the world to other, Western Union is making news for ending a service which was in operations for more than a century. It seems like the new age fad like the long distance calling. E-mail and instant messaging along with cell phones has taken its toll on the age-old methods of communications.

Western Union quietly revealed last week that they are ending their telegram business, which was their primary business until a few years back. The company posted in a message on their telegram section on the website: “Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage.”

Consumers would now have to look at other companies if they want to send telegrams. However, this does not mean that Western Union would be losing much of their business. Their parent company, Greenwood Village has already announced plans to spin off Western Union, creating a stand-alone, publicly listed company.

This means that WU would now become a financial services company and would derive much of their revenues from their services of transferring money worldwide. Western Union representative Colin Wheeler said in a statement on the company’s decision to end the Telegram services: “It was a hard decision. It was so much a part of our legacy. But the Internet cut into the business.”

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