The biggest problem facing Australian’s travelling to New Zealand has always been worrying about getting a SIM card on arrival so that people can contact loved ones back at home, or worrying about the expensive costs of global roaming.
The great news is that now, thanks to Vodafone Australia if you are planning to head over to New Zealand and plan to spend less than 90 days in the country, roaming is now free.
This is a great deal for Australian travellers as you will be able to save the $5 daily roaming fee and not have to worry about your smartphone not being able to make calls or access mobile data on the go.
When on holiday, outside of your hotel or the tourist areas, WiFi is often expensive or in most cases not even available.
With Vodafone providing users with $0 roaming, you won’t have to worry about not being connected.
Vodafone Australia global roaming
Vodafone global roaming allows you to use your mobile phone when travelling abroad to more than 50 countries around the world.
The best part is that you can use your mobile phone just the same as your normally would if you were still back at home.
Roaming on the Vodafone network allows you to access all of your calls, texts and mobile data, all as if you were still back in Oz and using your smartphone as per usual.
If you are visiting a country that is not New Zealand, then the standard $5 per day roaming fee applies. If $5 roaming is activated on your prepaid plan, but you don’t use your phone, then you won’t be charged.
Travelling to New Zealand, Vodafone have you covered
Vodafone Australia launched their roaming offer back in mid-2013, which set them apart from the rest of the competition which to this day still charge expensive roaming fees.
Now thanks to Vodafone Australia, it won’t even cost you a fiver on your next trip to New Zealand.
Unlike their competitors, Vodafone only charges you a simple flat daily fee, allowing users to make calls, send texts and access their mobile data as per usual. All without making users pay exorbitant per minute fees.
Due to the large volume of Aussies heading to New Zealand, they were the logical first country to be included in the Vodafone $0 roaming agreement, in the coming months they may also add Canada and Britain to the list.
“Today I am pleased to announce that Vodafone Australia is strengthening its ties to New Zealand by opening its ‘network borders’ to include New Zealand,” – Vodafone CMO, Loo Fun Chee.
Which customers can take advantage of $0 roaming?
The daily free roaming in New Zealand service is currently only available to Vodafone Australia prepaid customers on the Red or SIM only plans.
The international roaming no daily fee service is thanks to a new partnership between Vodafone Australia and Qantas, the national Australian airline.
The deal allows Vodafone users to earn up to 15,000 Qantas points, through their subscription, renewal and upgrading of existing Vodafone Australia Red plans.
As a secondary part of the deal, Qantas will begin selling Vodafone Australia locked smartphones and SIM cards to all international travellers flying to Australia on their aeroplanes.
In the telecommunications industry partnering with a national airline carrier, to sell to their flight passengers mobile phones and SIM card services is a first in Australia and could pave the way for other non-traditional partnerships.
“Many Australians travelling overseas continue to be denied the right to use their phones like they would at home, and are instead spending their holiday downtime searching for free WiFi or worse still, paying excessive mobile roaming rates,” she said. “This is something Vodafone is working hard to change.” – Vodafone CMO, Loo Fun Chee
Telstra and using mobile data overseas
Telstra though their international partnership with global WiFi Hotspot company Fon, are enabling Telstra mobile users access to WiFi from the many different hotspots around the world.
Telstra users can simply connect to the Telstra Air app on their iPhone or Android smartphone and tablet devices and be connected to the internet, no matter where they are in the world.
Fon a global hotspot provider in partnership with Telstra are the exclusive partner allowing Telstra customers which are a part of the “Telstra Air” network, to also access WiFi when on holiday or travelling abroad.
Data accessed via the Fon network of hotspots around the world will be counted towards your current Telstra plan which you have back home.
The best choice for international roaming
For Telstra users which are not on the “Telstra Air” network who want to gain access to mobile data whilst travelling overseas, can take advantage of their travel data packs.
The travel data packs come in three different plan sizes, Small, Medium and Large and give users an overseas mobile data allowance of 100, 300 and 600MB of data.
For the amount of money which each plan costs and the very small amount of data included, you would be much better off trying to find a free WiFi hotspot once overseas, or by taking up one of the much better deals from local MVNOs before you travel.
In comparison to the $0 roaming which Vodafone has on offer, for travellers to New Zealand, the above deals provided by Telstra are quite poor and are not really that competitive.
It’s clear to see once again that when it comes to international roaming and offering users the best deal, Telstra has once again missed the mark.
The telecom industry in Australia is increasingly competitive thanks to the entry of MVNOs such as Amaysim and Lebara. Traditional companies which don’t innovate and offer more to their customers will end up becoming nothing more than dumb pipes.
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