We use a cell phone a fair amount for personal and business use, and text when we can to save on costs. Cell service is a lot more in NZ than in the States. Any recommendations? We are doing pre-paid temporarily.
Thanks in advance,
Wendy
We use a cell phone a fair amount for personal and business use, and text when we can to save on costs. Cell service is a lot more in NZ than in the States. Any recommendations? We are doing pre-paid temporarily.
Thanks in advance,
Wendy
Depends on whether you want to use the same phone in both NZ and the states (see you are still flying back and forth). In that case the only option would be an unlocked GSM phone with a Vodafone prepaid card for NZ and something like T-Mobile in the states.
If you use Telecom then your phone isn't going to work in the states.
I hope Vodafone is not the only company, looking at the price for comparable minutes in America, $329 for 1,000 minutes..I pay $100 / month, with unlimited text, and 2 lines...I hope better options are out there and I'm just missing something. It appears you rent phones more so in NZ...
It really is between Vodafone and Telecom in NZ and if you want a GSM phone then its Vodafone.
Depending on your calling pattern then there are some options that should be checked out. If you call a lot between two mobiles then check out best mates plan (vodafone) which for NZ$6 a month allows you to talk and phone unlimited for 'free'. If you talk between a mobile and a landline then check out Freedom (telecom) which allows unlimited calls between the two phones for NZ$10 per month. Sure that there are other options for heavy texters etc.
Call charges are very expensive (you even pay if no-one answers) which is why most people just text each other.
Ian
Wendy,
I moved here to Auckland from the US this week. I was also shocked by cell phone prices. I needed one urgently to find a more permanent location and because I work at a hospital.
I brought a blackberry both because it is great to txt with, but also because the blackbery add on is only $35 to get unlimited email and a lot of compressed data for web surfing (good for finding addresses for instance). However there are insanely expensive here ($250-$300 new on ebay in the US vs $1000 NZ here.
Hope this helps,
Chris
Wendy,
I moved here to Auckland from the US this week. I was also shocked by cell phone prices. I needed one urgently to find a more permanent location and because I work at a hospital.
I brought a blackberry both because it is great to txt with, but also because the blackbery add on is only $35 to get unlimited email and a lot of compressed data for web surfing (good for finding addresses for instance). However there are insanely expensive here ($250-$300 new on ebay in the US vs $1000 NZ here.
Hope this helps,
Chris