(Thai Press Reports via NewsEdge) Thailand's CAT Telecom has requested permission from the national telecom regulator to shut down its loss-making telegraph business, The Nation reports.
National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) secretary-general Suranan Wongvithayakamjorn said the NTC had yet to grant the request, pending CAT's submission of real service demand.
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 26 million baht ($667,000).
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.
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.
© 2007 Thai Press Reports
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