If you’re visiting New Zealand for any substantial amount of time, you’ll want to pick up a pre-paid SIM card for your phone to stay in touch with your family and friends at home, all the amazing people you’ll meet on the road, and to make onward travel arrangements.  Coverage in New Zealand is extremely variable and you can’t count on any coverage outside of towns or cities.  The mobile system works like most European countries: the caller is the one who pays for the mobile call.  For example, if someone in NZ calls your mobile from their landline, the caller pays a surcharge and you get incoming calls and texts for free.

The Choices: Telecom, Vodafone, and 2degrees

There are three major mobile operators in New Zealand: Telecom, Vodafone, and a new upstart called 2 degrees.  Though coverage does vary between the companies, with Telecom having the most extensive coverage, it’s not a major difference unless you plan on staying somewhere (like Glenorchy for example) for a long period of time.

Cost Comparison

¹ Telecom’s Selected Countries: Australia, UK, US, Canada, and Ireland.
² Vodafone’s Selected Countries: Australia, UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, China, India, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
³ 2degrees’s Selected Countries: Australia, UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, China, India, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, France, Germany, South Africa, Fiji
⁴ 2degrees offers a special rate of 22c/min to 2degrees mobiles and landlines in their 22 selected countries when topping up with $20 or more. They also give 100 free texts with a $20 top-up. All these specials must be used within 30 days of topping up.

Specials

As shown in the chart, Vodafone offers a special for $2 per call for up to an hour of talk time when calling their 15 selected countries. Telecom gives bonus credit when topping up e.g. a $20 top-up gives you $25 in credit. 2degrees currently gives 100 texts and changes the rate to 22c/min for calls to 2degrees mobiles and landlines in their 22 selected countries.

The Verdict: It Depends

2degrees is the overall winner. They have the best rates for calling within New Zealand and have the largest number of countries with discounts. They also have the cheapest SIM at $20 including $20 credit (basically free). If you don’t plan to make long calls to Vodafone’s 15 countries on your mobile, this is your clear winner.

Vodafone is the winner for longer term visitors who plan to call any of Vodafone’s 15 special countries a substantial amount. You can’t beat $2 for up to an hour phone call. It makes it much cheaper to call internationally than domestically. If you don’t plan on making these select international calls, however, Telecom is a bit cheaper and 2degrees is much cheaper.

Telecom doesn’t have a whole lot going for them. 2degrees is cheaper domestically and internationally and Vodafone is cheaper to their select international countries. Telecom does have the best coverage, however, so if you plan on spending a large amount of time in the bush without heading to a town every once in a while, they are your best bet.

Related posts:

1. Free Calls to the First World
2. International Travel