Western Union scraps telegram service


STOP: After 155 years in the telegraph business, Western Union has cabled its final dispatch.

The service that in the mid-1800s displaced pony-borne messengers has itself been supplanted over the last half-century by cheap long- distance telephone service, faxes and e-mail. In a final bit of irony, Western Union informed customers last week in a message on its Web site.

"Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services," said the notice. "We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage."

The terse notice, confirmed Wednesday by Victor Chayet, a spokesman for the Greenwood Village, Colo., unit of First Data Corp., was in keeping with telegraphese, the language customers devised to hold down costs. Sentences were separated by "STOP," which was cheaper to send than a period, Chayet said.

Western Union employees were informed of the decision in mid- January, one operator said Wednesday.


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Western Union
Western Union (NYSE: WU) is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters are in Englewood, Colorado, and its international marketing and commercial services headquarters are in Montvale, New Jersey. Until it discontinued the service, this company was the best known US company in the business of exchanging telegrams. Western Union has a number of divisions, with products such as person-to-person money transfer, money orders, and commercial services. As of June 9, 2006, the company has 270,000 Western Union agent locations in over 200 countries and territories. Reported revenues top $3 billion annually.

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Western Union scraps telegram service
STOP: After 155 years in the telegraph business, Western Union has cabled its final dispatch. The service that in the mid-1800s displaced pony-borne messengers has itself been supplanted over the last half-century by cheap long- distance telephone service, faxes and e-mail. In a final bit of irony, Western Union informed customers last week in a message on its Web site. "Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services," said the notice. "We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage." The terse notice, confirmed Wednesday by Victor Chayet, a spokesman for the Greenwood Village, Colo., unit of First Data Corp., was in keeping with t ...

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