A prepaid eSIM, not roaming
Roaming keeps your phone on your home carrier’s rate, charged per day or per megabyte, and your phone behaves like a visitor. A prepaid eSIM does the opposite: it places a second line on your phone that runs on a New Zealand network, so the data is billed by the plan you bought, in full, before you fly.
Your usual SIM stays in the phone for calls and messages on your own number, and the QuokkaSIM line carries the data for maps, messages and everything else.
The three networks
New Zealand has three mobile networks, and each QuokkaSIM plan will name its own before you pay.
- Spark is one of the two large national networks, with coverage across the main centres and tourist routes.
- One NZ, formerly Vodafone New Zealand, is the other, with similar reach between the towns and along the main highways.
- 2degrees is the third national network, strong in the cities and the popular travel corridors.
Coverage between the towns is good on all three. It is the remote places, parts of Fiordland, the Southern Alps and the far south, where the network matters more, so check the plan page when the plans open.
Coverage notes and sources
Coverage notes follow the networks’ published coverage, read on 30 September 2026, and the plan pages will name their network and their sources when the plans open. How this site checks its facts, and how corrections work, is explained on how we check.
A trip through both countries
Many visits to this part of the world take in Australia and New Zealand together. Prepaid visitor plans are sold per country, so the usual way is one plan for each, installed before you fly and switched on as you cross. Your phone can hold both lines at once, and only the one for the country you are in needs to be on for data. The Australia eSIM page covers the Australian side.
Devices that support eSIM
Most phones from recent years take an eSIM: an iPhone XS or newer, a Samsung Galaxy S20 or newer, and Google Pixel 3 or newer, among others. To check, open your phone’s settings and look for Add eSIM or Add Cellular Plan. The plan pages will say what to check before you pay.
When to install, and when the plan starts
Install before you fly, at home on Wi-Fi or mobile data. Installing does not start the countdown: the plan begins when it first connects to a New Zealand network. Switch the QuokkaSIM line on for mobile data when you land, and keep data roaming switched off on your usual line.
Prices, payment and refunds
When the plans open, every plan will show its network, its data, its length and the total price before payment. The price shown is the price paid, nothing is added at checkout, and a plan that cannot be made to work in New Zealand is refunded in full. The refund policy has the detail.