South Africa’s last independent service provider Altech Autopage’s move to shed its global systems for mobile communications (GSM) subscriber bases to the respective mobile operators is on track, with the Competition Commission’s recommendation expected within a month.

The Allied Electronics (Altron) subsidiary planned to start the migration of its Cell C, MTN and Vodacom subscriber bases in February, following what CEO Boyd Chislett expected would be a positive outcome from the Competition Tribunal in the New Year.

Autopage was the last remaining mobile cellular service provider for South Africa’s four cellular networks since acquiring the now-shut Nashua Mobile’s 65 000 Cell C subscribers for R91.5-million in 2014.

Despite diversifying from a purely GSM base to converged services, integrating voice, data and multimedia, discussions to dispose of the subscriber bases and close its retail stores started in January this year after an anticipated recovery in Autopage’s performance failed to materialise in the second half of the 2015 financial year.

The unit, operating under Altron’s telecommunications, multimedia and information technology business, had been weighed down by market saturation, price deflation, declining revenue, falling returns and cash flow and decreasing average revenue per user, which had offset cost-saving gains, as well as the continuing negative impacts of the lower mobile termination rates on the now-discontinued operation.

While some 250 employees were expected to be retrenched next year, employee interventions would see around 50% of Autopage’s employees deployed within its parent group and across some 70 external debt collecting partners, Chislett told Engineering News Online on Monday.

Around 75 of the company’s call centre employees were contracted to Bytes Peoples Solution, another Altron subsidiary, and would be redeployed once their duties at Autopage were completed.

All employees had been offered retention bonuses to prevent mass exit and those that were to be retrenched were offered generous packages, he said, adding that Autopage’s business partners and outlet franchisee owners were provided with support and additional incentive to maintain service performance, with a portion allocated to assist the franchisors’ affected employees.

All retailers, which were briefed during Autopage management’s monthly nationwide roadshows, would be absolved of their lease obligations and other liabilities as the outlets were closed.

Some 105 stores and 80 business partners were still operating – and would continue to trade until next year – with the past three months seeing improved trading.

The group had also contracted the services of external companies to aid and equip employees with curriculum vitaes, interview techniques and the relevant job-hunting skills, as well as counselling to assist with the stress of the closure and having to leave their current positions.

From January 2016, Autopage would start personalised communications with its one-million customers to provide the required support and relay information during the subscriber base migration, assuring that, while some challenges were to be expected, the transition would be made as seamless as possible.