Spark launches satellite service

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Spark launches satellite service

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#3478039 4-Apr-2026 17:32

Correct - more devices are definitely being worked through in terms of testing and approval. When I’m in the office will check how far ways the Fold 7 is likely.

My comments and remarks are not necessarily of my employer.

FineWine

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#3478042 4-Apr-2026 17:36

gajan: .....re performance in car - for best experience it does need a clear line of sight to the sky. Some mounted phone holders may work depending on their position but performance won’t be as good as standing outside in the clear.

Time for vehicle manufactures to start building in satellite receiver capabilities as standard that then can be automatically connected to infotainment, Android Auto & Apple Car Play. Not talking about tesla etc self drive, but your bulk standard vehicle.

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

acsylaa

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#3478047 4-Apr-2026 17:47

gajan:

At this stage it’s only eligible Spark Plans / addons for non eligible Spark plans.
re performance in car - for best experience it does need a clear line of sight to the sky. Some mounted phone holders may work depending on their position but performance won’t be as good as standing outside in the clear.

Is this going to be enabled for all MVNO's on the Spark network?

gajan

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#3478050 4-Apr-2026 17:52

acsylaa:

Is this going to be enabled for all MVNO's on the Spark network?

I cant really comment on that - something you could perhaps discuss with the MVNO provider.

My comments and remarks are not necessarily of my employer.

DjShadow

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#3478058 4-Apr-2026 18:56

gajan:

At this stage it’s only eligible Spark Plans / addons for non eligible Spark plans.
re performance in car - for best experience it does need a clear line of sight to the sky. Some mounted phone holders may work depending on their position but performance won’t be as good as standing outside in the clear.

I happened to be on a road trip from Wellington to the Waikato when the service was launched, my iPhone 17 Pro Max was sitting on my car’s wireless charger (Ford Escape) and still able to connect to the Satellite service even with the top of the phone concealed a bit from line of sight to the sky. Still able to get a max of 2/4 bars but usually its just 1 bar.

boosacnoodle

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#3478172 5-Apr-2026 07:52

Taking a trip over to the Coast this weekend, it was truly staggering to see some of the coverage gaps that Spark has. Punakaiki, for example, has had a One NZ (ex. Vodafone) tower installed since at least 2010 (looking at Street view). Spark? No coverage whatsoever - not even Satellite, oddly enough (despite it working well elsewhere). And while there is a RCG tower in the vicinity, it's only available the moment you travel down the hill and out of the touristy area itself. Maybe useful for the few local residents but of little to no use to travellers.

Anecdotally, several times I observed 5 bars on One NZ and just 1 bar on Spark - via. Satellite, of course. But despite this, looking back at the data itself, Spark had the "superior" coverage in terms of an actual network signal (whether it was actually usable or not was not something I tested). Spark fell back to SpaceX just 3 times, whereas One NZ did so no fewer than 12 times so far - the majority of which happened on the portion of SH6 from Greymouth to Westport.

Curiously, because 2degrees has a "MORAN" arrangement with One NZ at several hundred locations, 2degrees rural coverage footprint is (roughly) in line with One NZ. This means the only actual meaningful distinction in rural coverage you will find will be either between One NZ/2degrees OR Spark - not all three. For this reason, if you are looking to get a dual-SIM arrangement for coverage, it would make the most sense to get Spark as well as EITHER of One NZ OR 2degrees (not both).

Though there are a few exceptions where it appears that 2degrees has elected not to pay One NZ for the MORAN arrangement, to list just a few - Cape Foulwind, Coleridge, Lauriston, Manapouri. In that case, One NZ should generally have the superior coverage (when compared with 2degrees).

johno1234:

Drove a rental car from Terrace Downs near Hororata to CHC on Friday using Google Maps navigation on Apple CarPlay with iPhone 15 26.4 and Spark fat post pay plan.
The satellite data did seem to work when out of coverage but it got a bit confused when the coverage was marginal. Seemed to try to use the barely available 4G when it wasn’t quite viable.

This happens even in towns on 5G. It's not a satellite issue, but a Spark issue.

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#3478176 5-Apr-2026 09:00

gajan:

I cant really comment on that - something you could perhaps discuss with the MVNO provider.

interestingly me and my wife have wildly different apps selection on the satellite menu! most of the apps i have available she doesn't and vice versa.

probably still early days eh

Dingbatt

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#3478188 5-Apr-2026 09:46

gajan:

Correct - more devices are definitely being worked through in terms of testing and approval. When I’m in the office will check how far ways the Fold 7 is likely.

Thank you. I don’t have a specific use case in mind. Probably more FOMO than anything else, if I’m honest.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

lokeynz

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#3478924 7-Apr-2026 23:48

boosacnoodle:

Though there are a few exceptions where it appears that 2degrees has elected not to pay One NZ for the MORAN arrangement, to list just a few - Cape Foulwind, Coleridge, Lauriston, Manapouri. In that case, One NZ should generally have the superior coverage (when compared with 2degrees).

Cape Foulwind was decommissioned in 2018, the site demo'ed in 2019. Hopefully with 3G being turned off, this will be the year they stop paying the annual license fee and it will disappear from the records.

gajan

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#3478936 8-Apr-2026 07:38

Dingbatt:

gajan:

Correct - more devices are definitely being worked through in terms of testing and approval. When I’m in the office will check how far ways the Fold 7 is likely.

Thank you. I don’t have a specific use case in mind. Probably more FOMO than anything else, if I’m honest.

I checked with the team - it's being worked on - so check back later (in a month or two) and hopefully it will be live on that device.

My comments and remarks are not necessarily of my employer.

boosacnoodle

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#3479081 8-Apr-2026 12:03

lokeynz:

Cape Foulwind was decommissioned in 2018, the site demo'ed in 2019. Hopefully with 3G being turned off, this will be the year they stop paying the annual license fee and it will disappear from the records.

That is very odd. Why would they pay $150 a year for a whopping seven years for a site that does not exist? That's over $1000. I've noticed other sites that appear to be like this, too (not just on One NZ).

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chris021

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#3479136 8-Apr-2026 12:18

gajan:

Dingbatt:

gajan:

Correct - more devices are definitely being worked through in terms of testing and approval. When I’m in the office will check how far ways the Fold 7 is likely.

Thank you. I don’t have a specific use case in mind. Probably more FOMO than anything else, if I’m honest.

I checked with the team - it's being worked on - so check back later (in a month or two) and hopefully it will be live on that device.

Yay! someone I know went out driving to test it on launch day and was very said when his fold didn't work despite working on starlink with One. glad to see its in progress!!! - thanks gajan for the update.

Poll

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#3479144 8-Apr-2026 12:48

acsylaa:

Poll:

This is showing on my Devoli plan as well, it might have been enabled for all MVNO's. I'll need to check next time I'm somewhere with no reception.

What devoli plan are you on? did you have to do anything Special to get this going? also what hardware?

Reading Taneb1's post it might just be a Samsung device incorrectly showing that it is Satellite ready, using a Galaxy S22+ and their 50gb plan. I've not been anywhere to test this since posting so will just have to wait and see.

boosacnoodle

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#3479642 10-Apr-2026 08:20

Received the sign-on message multiple times. Not sure if that is expected or a bug?

KiwiSurfer

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#3479647 10-Apr-2026 08:37

Probabably in between your phone went back to standard coverage. I think sending a SMS every time you connect to satellite isn't a good idea. When I was tramping on Great Barrier island a few months go I was in and out of sat coverage multiple times -- walk up a hill and get standard coverage, walk down and get satellite, and so on. Maybe Spark should only do this if no connection to satellite in the last 24 hours or something aong those lines.

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