After more than 15 years in the country, Virgin Mobile South Africa will be shuttering its doors on 1 November. It launched on Cell C’s network back in 2006 as the country’s first mobile virtual network operator, with very high expectations. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
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At the end of last year Virgin Mobile was placed into voluntary business rescue, so the writing has been on the wall for some time. It was seeking business rescue to restructure the company and save them from total collapse. Unfortunately, there was no white knight to be found and the doors need to close.
After 15 amazing years, our Virgin Mobile story is coming to an end. It has been our pleasure connecting our customers with their loved ones and we’d like to thank each of you for being part of our family in these past years.
— Virgin Mobile SA (@virginmobilesa) September 3, 2021
Visit https://t.co/VGvJQ8PMZx for more info pic.twitter.com/9mj4rJiqC9
“In recent years, the market has changed considerably, and a combination of tough trading conditions, strong competition and the economic stress posed by Covid-19 means that it has been a challenging market for Virgin Mobile South Africa,” the company said in a statement. “As part of the business’s new strategy, it will be completely rebranded as its new go-to-market strategy is implemented. As such, the business will cease trading as Virgin Mobile from 30 November 2021.”
According to the statement, current customers will be contacted before the ultimate closure and they can choose between either cancelling their contract or migrating to Telkom Mobile’s network. Most remaining Virgin Mobile customer are prepaid customers, so not too many will be effected by the closure.
Current CEO of Virgin Mobile SA, Zak van der Merwe, has been working with the company’s management team since going into business rescue, engaging with current and potential shareholders to try and save the business. A new deal was not able to be negotiated and van der Merwe will leave the business soon.
Were you ever a Virgin Mobile customer? Why did you leave? Let us know in the comments below.
