日本將於明年正式終結尋呼機業務

Japan's last pager provider has announced it will end its service in September 2019 -- bringing a national end to telecommunication beepers.

日本最後一家尋呼機服務商宣佈將於2019年9月停止服務，這意味着尋呼機在日本將成歷史。

Around 1,500 users remain subscribed to Tokyo Telemessage, which has not made the devices in 20 years.

東京電信通信公司目前仍有約1500名尋呼機用戶，而該公司在20年前就已經停止生產尋呼機。

The once-popular devices are able to receive and show wireless messages. Users would then find a phone to call the sender back.

尋呼機曾風靡一時，它可以接收和顯示無線信息。使用者在收到信息後，可以給發送者回電話。

Developed in the 1950s and 1960s, they grew in popularity in the 1980s.

尋呼機始於上世紀五六十年代，八十年代開始流行。

By 1996, Tokyo Telemessage had 1.2 million subscribers.

1996年，東京電信通信公司擁有120萬尋呼機用戶。

However, the rise of mobile phones rendered the pager obsolete, and few remain worldwide.

然而，手機的興起使尋呼機遭到淘汰，目前全球已很少有人使用。

Emergency services, however, continue to use the reliable technology -- including in the UK.

不過應急服務部門仍在繼續使用這種可靠的技術--包括在英國。