SIM Cards

[yslee]

Hmm, aren't 3G frequencies in UK different from NZ?

[James 1077]

If you have a quad band phone (most newer ones are) then there aren't any problems.

I think that Voda run on the same 3G band as the UK in the city but not the rural areas but again a quad band phone wouldn't have an issue.

[Flutterby]

The new nokia and other phones are harder to unlock and so carry a premium to do so especially the UK contract locked ones

well it wasn't one of those!

[Duncan74]

There was a thread on this where I asked about 3g frequencies. All very complicated, but I think the summary was as follows:-
Voice - all phones will work in the uk, us and nz.
3g - UMTS2100 is the main one in all urban areas, and so will be fine on all phones.
BUT there's the 'backup speed at either UMTS900 OR UMTS850 and thi sis where it gets dodgy. NZ Vodaphone use the same UMTS900 as europe. XT use the UMTS850 as their back up. The lower frequencies travel further which is why in rural areas they use that over the UTMS2100. So if you go with vodaphone in NZ then a eurpoean phone will be fine. Nolia label them -1 or -2 in the model names. So I got an E55-1 to work with vodaphone in rural NZ, but could have got an E55-2 to work with XT in rural areas. Please confirm this, but Petri was a great source of info on this if he / she is around....

[Duncan74]

I knew there was a catch with 2 degrees. You can't send / receive (one of the two) texts to Vodaphone in the UK. And as that's who my wife's on at the moment then that's a bit of a bind.

Oh, and they've not quite turned on 3g, and at the moment it's 50c per MB for data. Ouch.

[yslee]

The term "Quad-band" refers to the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz frequencies for 2G networks, based on GSM. GSM networks deploying 3G networks use the UTMS bands, which are similar, but not GSM in of itself. Common UMTS bands include the 2100 and 900 MHz frequencies, used by most countries, but there're also 800, 850, 1700 and 1900 MHz frequencies. I somehow recall reading that NZ does not use 2100 MHz bands, but that was just a cursory glance; I'm not going to let a phone's availability due to incompatible networks determine where I stay!

[petri]

NZ does use 2100 Mhz for 3G.

Telecom XT is a 850/2100 3G network, no GSM network.
Vodafone NZ is a 900/2100 3G network and 900/1800 GSM network.
2degrees is 900/1800 GSM network, plans for 2100 3G. Outside of 2degrees network they roam to Vodafone's network.

As the "rural 3G frequency" is important, especially with Telecom XT, one should always check what frequencies the phone you're planning to buy supports. Both 850 and 900 Mhz 3G will be widely supported as both will have big user base, 900 Mhz in Europe and 850 Mhz in Aus/NZ, Asia and South America.

HTC's and iPhones are a bit difficult, they don't usually have much alternatives. Nokia has usually different models for different regions, for example there are E71-1, E71-2 and E71-3 (900/2100, 850/1900 and 850/2100 for 3G). Some latest models support everything in one package, for example C6 does EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 and 3G 850/900/1900/2100. www.nokia.com and select Australia to find the details, they use both 850 and 900 Mhz 3G there.

iPhone 3G(S) is a fine match for Telecom XT but less so for Vodafone NZ due the lack of 900 Mhz 3G.

With so many frequencies out there, "Quadband" is more marketing than anything else (and usually refers to the 850/900/1800/1900 GSM support).

And of course it depends what you want to do with the phone; most phones do just fine for voice and text with Vodafone and 2degrees. With data it's better to have a good frequency match with the 3G network(s). Personally I'd prefer a phone that does 850/900/2100 3G so that it works fine with both Telecom and Vodafone, but I'm biased towards the iPhone..

[Duncan74]

(I admit at this point when Petri first explained it I went out and bought a 'normal' £5 house phone and a 5km cable drum). However after I'd re-read a few times it's not that unclear. Sign up to Vodaphone NZ with any UK phone and you're fine. XT will work better with Aussie/US phones by default. 2 Degrees is fine unless you want to use data or send texts to vodaphone numbers in the UK.

Petri, please feel free to correct any of the above oversimplifications. Thanks

[petri]

Yep.. it looks a bit too complicated with all the numbers, you never realize it while writing it ;-)

I would be extra cautious with US phones (different networks) and branded phones (usually locked to that carrier).

[langers]

Sign up to Vodaphone NZ with any UK phone and you're fine.

Unless it's locked to the UK network you're on and then you're not although that's mainly PAYG phones as the handsets are so heavily subsidised by the network