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Pre-pay mobile phone SIM for New Zealand

I am going to NZ later this year, will be spending about 5 weeks there. I want to buy a local SIM. Much of my time I will spend in rather remote areas, so coverage is more important than price. What SIM should I get?

112 weeks ago, March 24th 2011Delete | Edit No: 1 Msg: #131915

walter1407
walter1407

N Posts: 5

[Edited: 11:16 - walter1407 ]

Reply to this

112 weeks ago, March 25th 2011Delete | Edit No: 2 Msg: #131965

thetravelbugtribe
Karen and Colin

B Posts: 160

Telecom tends to have slightly more coverage, but many people go with 2 Degrees as it is much cheaper and the coverage is usually good enough. Many of the remote areas wont have any coverage. We recently toured the South Island, one of us had a telecom phone the other vodafone, and generally they either both worked or neither of them did. Reply to this

112 weeks ago, March 25th 2011Delete | Edit No: 3 Msg: #132006

Chris n Lou
Chris n Lou

B Posts: 166

We went with Vodafone which was cheap and had a signal practically everywhere we went. Do ask about tariffs though - if I remember correctly the default pay as you go tariff was expensive. We changed tariff online to a more traveller-friendly one - cheaper rates etc. Reply to this

112 weeks ago, March 26th 2011Delete | Edit No: 4 Msg: #132095

walter1407
walter1407

N Posts: 5

Thanks a lot! I'll check rates and options online. Reply to this

111 weeks ago, March 30th 2011Delete | Edit No: 5 Msg: #132341

saundersers
Ben Saunders

N Posts: 4

Hey i am going travelling to australia pretty soon and am wondering about the same thing there? What is mobile phone coverage like in outback australia parts?

Is there a better phone company to go with? Reply to this

111 weeks ago, March 30th 2011Delete | Edit No: 6 Msg: #132363

Chris n Lou
Chris n Lou

B Posts: 166

Vodafone were garbage in Oz! Reception was poor in remote areas. Reply to this

110 weeks ago, April 8th 2011Delete | Edit No: 7 Msg: #133292

thetravelbugtribe
Karen and Colin

B Posts: 160

We went with Telstra in Australia, not the cheapest but we were told by a few people that their coverage was good. We got a pre paid SIM for AUS$30 and it came with $20-30 credit, cant remember now exactly how much. We used it in Western Australia, and while there were places with no coverage, we didnt really have any complaints. We dont get coverage here in remote areas (NZ) and didnt expect it there either. Reply to this