JSE-listed Allied Electronics Corporation (Altron) is planning to sell off the mobile subscriber base of its wholly-owned subsidiary Altech Autopage, estimated at roughly one million. ‘Altech Autopage experienced a tough market and ongoing mobile termination rate (MTR) reductions, which compelled us to make the decision in principal to dispose of the GSM subscriber base. Discussions are at an advanced stage to sell these subscribers and the non-GSM part of the business will be retained and housed within other operations’, the company said in a press release.
The move comes a year after Autopage signed a contract to acquire Nashua Mobile’s Cell C client base, estimated at around 65,000 users, for ZAR91.5 million (USD7.64 million). As previously reported by CommsUpdate, ICT group Reunert, the parent company of Nashua Mobile, agreed to offload its 750,000-strong subscriber base to three companies – Vodacom South Africa, Altech Autopage, and MTN South Africa – and ceased operations as soon as the subscribers were migrated (4 November 2014).