SMS Fee?
I changed my smartphone and installed several new apps, and Telegram was one of them.
But then, the Telegram app asked me to pay an SMS fee.
Text authentication is not free
Most services offer it for free, so we tend to skip it, but text message authentication is actually not a free service.
Text messaging is strictly a service provided by telecommunications companies, so service fees apply. However, most service providers simply cover the cost of sending text messages.
Previously, Telegram had been paying for it themselves, but it seems that their policy has changed to having users pay for the service.
They declared it completely free, then tried to monetize it with Telegram Premium, and now they're even charging for sending text messages... I think they'll be adding ads in chat rooms soon.
Prevent spam account creation?
Let's think about it differently, it might also be possible to prevent the indiscriminate creation of spam accounts.
Abuse of Telegram has been a persistent issue, stemming from the platform's ease of registration and use. Consequently, Telegram must have found it extremely difficult to prevent this in advance.
Charging a fee would probably help prevent spam account issues, perhaps.
How I solved it
Make payment
Since you only need to receive the verification number via text message, you can make the payment... but I don't think anyone expected this outcome.
Install old version
I wonder if the SMS Fee payment request was added as a feature within the app, but I was able to proceed without payment after installing the older version.
I don't know if this method will work in the future.