Japan's last pager service ends after 50 years

The end of the pager era is nigh in Japan after five decades as the country's last provider announced on Monday that it would be scrapping its service next year.

Tokyo Telemessage, the only beeper company left standing, said in an online statement on Monday that it will terminate its service to Tokyo and three neighboring regions on Sep 30.

Describing the move as "very regrettable", the statement said: "Pagers were once a huge hit, ... but the number of users is now down to 1,500."