DON’T DO IT.
I am quite disappointed that this issue had not been discussed on this forum before. I myself, only found out about it a couple of months ago, but it was first reported in the news over a year ago, and it was relayed on PG as evidenced in the link above. But the titles of the article did not highlight the fact that Telegram started charging for SMS verification, and nobody seemed to be bothered by this specific detail.
I made my comments about it last month, and it includes a potential workaround by downloading a specific older version of Telegram. If this doesn’t work, wait a couple of days to try again. Also know that if it does work, you will never be able to update Telegram via any app store again. You will have to wait to get a notification for update.
Lastly, to me, even if there is a workaround, this is a sign to leave a Telegram. They don’t care about privacy. I suggest you make a long term exit plan.