He added that the regulator had asked CAT to survey accurate service demand, especially in remote areas, and submit the data to the NTC for consideration.

A CAT source said the telegraph business had recorded monthly losses of Bt26 million.

CAT has Thailand Post provide the telegraph service, recording 500 customers a day. Almost all of the telegrams sent are for collecting a debt, because the telegram paper can be used as legal evidence of debt collection.

Thailand Post was formerly CAT's postal unit before it was split away from CAT in the corporatisation process.

The ebbing popularity of the telegraph service reflects the evolution of telecom technology from telegraph, telephone and paging to the currently predominant cellular and Internet services.

There are almost 40 million mobile-phone subscribers in Thailand versus 6 million fixed-line telephone users and about 6 million Internet subscribers.

CAT asked for permission to shut down the telegraph operation last year from the Information and Communications Technology Ministry, which gave the nod to the plan. But the ministry told CAT to submit the request to the NTC, which oversees the telecom industry.

The state agency informed the NTC in February 2006 of its intention to shut down the service. NTC regulations stipulate that telecom operators must notify the NTC about plans to cancel major services one year ahead of the planned shutdown schedule.

The state agency informed the NTC again last month about the plan, one year after the first notification.

CAT operates the telegraph service under a type-3 NTC licence, which is for a telecom operator with its own network that can affect the public on a wide scale.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation