ROAMING RATES

Get more data to keep you going

Stay connected while overseas with Spark roaming. There are two roaming packs available in over 40 destinations. Each pack lasts for 14 days. You can buy these whether you're a Pay Monthly customer or a Prepaid customer.

If these roaming packs don't suit your needs, you can get casual roaming rates for minutes, texts and data across five zones worldwide. Details for the country you're travelling to can be found below.

• Get roaming coverage in over 180 destinations. Roaming packs are available for more than 40 of these destinations.
• Get free 24/7 support from your Spark mobile. If you need us, call +64 3 371 0866 (free call from a Spark mobile).
• Roaming data caps can be set up to manage casual roaming data costs. Understand roaming charges and data caps
• The Roaming Pack or Roaming Data Pack can be bought for eligible destinations through MySpark online or in the Spark app
• Sign in to MySpark
• Get the Spark app
• You'll get a text message when your roaming pack is ready to use
• All roaming prices are in NZD and include GST.
• Roaming is enabled by default on all Spark SIMs. To disable some or all roaming services, please contact the Roaming Helpdesk on +64 3 371 0866.​

VoLTE Roaming – making calls via 4G networks

Worldwide, our roaming carrier partners are starting to retire their 3G and 2G networks to free up frequencies and network resources for their 4G and 5G networks. For the past decade, voice calls have been primarily carried out over the 3G network. In order to make voice calls on a 4G mobile network while roaming, your device must be capable of VoLTE Roaming. VoLTE, or voice over LTE (LTE is the technical name for 4G), is the next evolution of mobile calling that uses the 4G network for traditional voice calls.

Even though your device may be VoLTE capable for use when in NZ, it may not be VoLTE roaming capable. Spark is working with device manufacturers to provide upgrades to devices as soon as possible. It is recommended that you always ensure your device is running the latest software build. (Data charges apply to software updates installed using data, so we recommend downloading software updates over WiFi.)

To find out if your device is VoLTE roaming capable, see the ‘Is my device VoLTE roaming capable?’ FAQ at Spark VoLTE Roaming

An extra safety net with roaming data smart caps

To control your casual data use overseas, roaming data smart caps let you set a limit on your casual roaming data costs. This is for each billing cycle while you're away.

Choose one of four thresholds. Once you've spent that amount on roaming data, your data service will stop until you increase your cap.

You can view or change your roaming data smart cap through MySpark online. Sign in to MySpark

Australia roaming options

You can buy one of these roaming packs or use casual roaming rates. All prices include GST.

Current roaming plans

	Data (MB)	Outgoing calls (min)	Incoming calls (min)	Text
Roaming Pack $8 Australia Daily Roaming for 24 hours	1GB	Unlimited** (to Australia and New Zealand numbers)***	Unlimited**	Unlimited** (to Australia and New Zealand numbers)***
Roaming Pack $30 for 14 days	2GB	300 minutes	300 minutes	300 (160 character limited per text)
Roaming Data Pack $25 for 14 days	2GB	-	-	-
Casual or overage rates	$11.50 per 200MB*	$0.56 per minute	$1.15 per minute	$0.92 per text (160 character limit per text)

*** Calls to numbers other than Australia or New Zealand numbers are charged at the casual rate of $0.56 per minute.

*** Texts to numbers other than Australia or New Zealand numbers are charged at the casual rate of $0.92 per text.

** Spark fair use policy applies.

* Every 200MB used costs $11.50, up to 14 times per day. If you exceed this in a day, your extra data costs $0.57 per 1MB. This resets each day at 00:00 NZT wherever you are in the world, regardless of how much data you've used.

Retired roaming plans

	Data (MB)	Outgoing calls (min)	Incoming calls (min)	Text
Roaming Pack $23 for seven days	1GB	200 minutes	200 minutes	200 (160 character limit per text)
Roaming Data Pack $17.25 for seven days	1GB	-	-	-

 

Zone 2 and 6 Roaming

Destinations covered:

• In Oceania: American Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu
• In Europe: Austria, Belgium, In Europe: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy (including San Marino and Vatican City), Netherlands, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Switzerland and UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands i.e. Jersey and Guernsey etc. and Isle of Man)
• In Asia: China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India****, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, Vietnam
• In North America: Canada, USA*** (including Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands)
• In South America: Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela**
• In Africa: South Africa

*Municipalities, independent city states within roaming countries and independent islands may not be included in Roaming Pack. Please check specific destination roaming details.
**Roaming for Prepaid customers unavailable.
*** 3G availability in the US is limited due to network withdrawal, which could impact your experience including if your device is not VoLTE roaming capable. See ‘Spark VoLTE Roaming’ for more information - Spark VoLTE Roaming
**** As per the regulations of the Government of India, a customer of an overseas carrier is not allowed to roam in Jammu and Kashmir. As such Spark customers in those regions will be unable to use roaming services.

You can buy a Roaming Pack, Roaming Data Pack or use casual roaming rates.

Current roaming plans

	Data (MB)	Outgoing calls (min)	Incoming calls (min)	Text
Roaming Pack $30 for 14 days	2GB	300 minutes	300 minutes	300 texts (160 character limit per text)
Roaming Data Pack $25 for 14 days	2GB	-	-	-
Casual or overage rates	$11.50 per 200MB*	$2.86 per minute	$1.15 per minute	$0.92 per text (160 character limit per text)

* Every 200 MB used costs $11.50, up to 14 times per day. If you exceed this in a day, your extra data costs $1.15 per 1MB. This resets each day at 00:00 NZT wherever you are in the world, regardless of how much data you've used.

Retired roaming plans

	Data (MB)	Outgoing calls (min)	Incoming calls (min)	Text
Roaming Pack $23 for seven days	1GB	200 minutes	200 minutes	200 (160 character limit per text)
Roaming Data Pack $17.25 for seven days	1GB	-	-	-

 

Zone 3 Roaming

Destinations covered: Denmark, Finland, Iceland*, Luxembourg*, New Caledonia*, Norway, Sweden

*Roaming for Prepaid customers is unavailable in these destinations.

	Data (MB)	Outgoing calls (min)	Incoming calls (min)	Text
Casual rates	$3.45 per 1MB for Pay Monthly customers $5.75 per 1MB for Prepaid customers	$4.01 per minute	$1.15 per minute	$0.92 per text (160 character limit per text)

Zone 4 Roaming

Destinations covered: Rest of the world

	Data (MB)	Outgoing calls (min)	Incoming calls (min)	Text
Casual rates	$5.75 per 1MB for Pay Monthly customers $9.20 per 1MB for Prepaid customers	$5.16 per minute	$1.15 per minute	$0.92 per text (160 character limit per text)

Cruise ships and airlines

At sea, roaming isn't available on Prepaid. Connectivity may be restricted at any time by crew members.
Roaming packs don’t work on cruise ships.
Note: Availability is dependent on the cruise ship or airline's carrier. All prices include GST.

	Data (MB)	Outgoing calls (min)	Incoming calls (min)	Text
Casual rates	$3.45 per MB for Pay Monthly customers	$4.01 per minute	$1.15 per minute	$0.92 per text (160 character limit per text)

Calling a satellite phone

The following rate applies, regardless of your current location:

Mobile service	Data	Calling	Text
Pay Monthly	N/A	$17.25 per minute	N/A

Important to know

General roaming information

• Roaming relies on the use of overseas telecommunications networks that we don’t control. We can’t therefore provide any guarantees about the quality of roaming services. If a fault happens while you're travelling please contact the Spark Roaming helpdesk on +64 3 371 0866 or roaming@spark.co.nz, so that we can discuss the issue with the local network in your roaming destination.
• New Zealand rates don’t apply when roaming. The charges that apply to roaming services are in addition to any other charges which apply to your mobile plan.
• The storage, treatment and transfer of personal data will be subject to the privacy regulations of your destination country and they may be different from those in New Zealand. Check with the individual roaming carrier provider about their privacy practices.
• Pay Monthly Roaming voice billing relies on the billing files to be sent from the carrier partner and processed by our billing systems. This means, Pay Monthly Roaming voice usage meters and alerts can be three to four days behind. We encourage you to track your call usage using the call record feature in your mobile, and ensure you have a second roaming pack purchased as back up if you intend to make or receive a lot of calls.
• Prepaid customers will receive a charge for any voicemails deposited in their voicemail box while roaming, even if their device is switched off. This is charged at the standard per min rate for receiving calls while roaming.
• To retrieve a voicemail while overseas you will be charged the standard per minute rate for an outgoing call in the country you're in unless you have an active roaming pack.
• If you choose not to purchase a roaming pack for an eligible country, or once a pack’s allowance has been consumed or the pack has expired, you will revert to casual rates until another pack is purchased.
• If you visit a destination that’s not covered by Spark's roaming packs, you’ll pay casual rates. Use the destination selector in the Spark app or at the top of the Roaming page to find the specific prices.
• All roaming charges are listed in New Zealand currency and include GST.
• Charges listed for incoming and outgoing calls while roaming are charged per minute (you pay the full minute rate for each minute or part minute).
• Text messages to and from New Zealand-based premium numbers while roaming will be charged at the standard New Zealand rate for those premium members.
• Text messages when roaming:
• There’s no charge for receiving a person-to-person text
• One standard text message is 160 characters. Texts over 160 characters (including spaces) count as more than one standard text. For example, a 200 character text would be charged as two texts.
• Note: Emojis use 90 characters in a text message. This means you’ll be charged the standard rate (or use 1 text allocation) for each text message up to 70 characters in length if it contains an emoji, for each recipient.
• When roaming, sending or receiving a picture/MMS message is charged at the standard data roaming rate for the country you're in or deducted off the data allocation of the roaming pack. You'll also be charged the standard Spark rate for sending a picture/MMS message.
• Sending or receiving picture texts, MMS or videos will incur extra charges as they’re not included in roaming packs. If they're sent using a data application (for example, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, email) they’ll consume data from your pack, or incur casual data charges if you don’t have a pack.
• Prepaid: If you send a picture message to a Spark mobile or any email address, it's $0.20 per message per recipient. If you send a picture message to another mobile network, it's $0.50 per message per recipient.
• Pay Monthly: If you send a picture message to a mobile on any network or any email address, it's $0.50 per message per recipient. If you send a video message to a mobile on any network, it's $1 per message per recipient.
• Websites or apps that are zero-rated (don't use your data allocation) while in New Zealand are charged at the standard data roaming rate for the country you're in or deducted from a roaming pack if you have one. The Spark app is zero-rated while roaming.

Not sure how much data you need?

• Data usage depends on what device is used and how much time is spent online. Roamers may get an idea of their potential mobile data requirements when travelling by looking at mobile data they use when in New Zealand. Some devices allow you to see how much mobile data you have used in the last month, including how much data different applications have used.
• Roamers should be aware that faster mobile networks will use more data than slower ones. For example a device may use more data on a 5G network compared to a 4G or 3G network, especially for things like high-definition video.
• A roamer's usage may vary depending on several factors, including, but not limited to; the model of the device, the device settings, the network being used, and application settings.
• A roamer's usage may change when travelling. For example, a roamer may spend more time looking at maps.
• Roamers can take steps to reduce their data usage when roaming, these steps may include:
• Using local Wi-Fi networks to avoid using mobile data.
• Turning off mobile data when it is not required – Find out how to turn mobile and roaming data on or off in the mobile device help section. Search for your device and follow the instructions provided. Go to device help
• Enabling data saving settings in applications where they are available.
• Avoiding streaming videos and music.
• Disabling background data services in a device or applications.
• Roaming packs which have included allowances (in eligible countries) may provide more certainty for roamers and, depending on how much data the roamer uses, may be more cost effective than casual data.

Roaming pack information

• The Roaming Pack and Roaming Data Pack is activated at first roaming use in eligible destinations and will expire 14 days after the next New Zealand midnight, after the first roaming use or full consumption of the pack inclusions.
• The Australia Daily Roaming pack is activated at first roaming use in Australia and will expire 24 hours after the first roaming use or full consumption of the pack inclusions.
• You can buy and have more than one Roaming Pack, Australia Daily Roaming Pack or Roaming Data Pack at a time, if you need more allocations.
• Each Roaming Pack and Roaming Data Pack's inclusions can be used in one or more of the listed eligible destinations. See eligible roaming destinations
• The Australia Daily Roaming pack's inclusions can be used in Australia only.
• Allowances aren't valid within New Zealand, or in other roaming destinations (including cruise ships or flights).
• The incoming calling allowances allows customers to receive calls on their mobile without incurring casual roaming rates.
• Roaming pack allocations cannot be shared. The data, text and call allocations can only be used from the mobile number they're purchased for.
• Roaming Pack and Roaming Data Pack: The outgoing calling allowance is for calls to any number anywhere in the world (i.e. it doesn't have to be to a number in an eligible country) within eligible countries as well as calls to any country around the world and to the voicemail connected to the mobile number with the Roaming Pack and Roaming Data Pack.
• Australia Daily Roaming Pack: The unlimited outgoing call allowance is for person to person calls to New Zealand and Australia numbers only and to the voicemail connected to the mobile number with the Australia Daily Roaming Pack. Calls to any other destination are charged at the casual rate of $0.56 per minute. The unlimited outgoing text allowance is for texts to New Zealand and Australia person to person numbers only. Texts to any other destinations are charged at the casual rate of $0.92 per text. Spark fair use policy applies
• Premium numbers (1800, 1900, 0800) are excluded from the calling allowance and will be charged at casual rates specific to the country you are in.
• The included texts allowance is for sending texts to numbers within both eligible and non-eligible destinations.
• Picture messaging/MMS and non-person to person text are excluded from text allowance and will use data from the pack, or at casual data rates if there's no data allocation remaining.

Auto Buy Roaming

• Auto Buy Roaming is a way to avoid casual roaming rates for eligible countries. Once you turn it on you don't need to do anything on arrival. You can enable Auto Buy Roaming by signing into your MySpark account or in the Spark app. Use the MySpark link that follows to go straight to the Mobile settings page where you can turn on Auto Buy Roaming. Go to MySpark settings
• Customers who have opted into Auto Buy Roaming will have their selected roaming pack automatically purchased and activated on first roaming usage in an eligible country, and additional pack(s) applied subsequently after full consumption of any roaming pack inclusion or when the current pack expires. Customers may manually purchase an additional roaming pack at any time.
• The Roaming Pack, or Roaming Data Pack that expires first will be consumed first. If you don't have another roaming pack after this roaming pack has been used, casual roaming rates will apply. This doesn't apply if Auto Buy Roaming is enabled, in which case a new roaming pack will be purchased and activated.