Telegram service of India Post has permanently been discontinued. With effect from July 15, 2013, one of India's oldest communication services—the telegram—became history. Financial constraints have forced the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. to wind up the telegraphic service. In India, the first telegraph message was transmitted live through electrical signals between Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Diamond Harbour, a distance of about 50 km, on November 5, 1850; and the service was opened for the general public in February 1855.