NZ amongst the worst in the world for data affordability.

Forums › New Zealand Mobile and Wireless › NZ amongst the worst in the world for data affordability.

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586 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#3138053 2-Oct-2023 23:28

But 5g is better and faster than 3G and 4G. More people on 5G means a better faster network. It’s like you saying the results can’t be accurate if some people are on adsl and some on fibre.

RunningMan

8961 posts

Uber Geek

#3138068 3-Oct-2023 05:39

Wombat1: [snip] It’s like you saying the results can’t be accurate if some people are on adsl and some on fibre.

There was an ISP that did exactly that, only had fibre clients then promoted itself on better Speedtest results than everyone else.

stick

357 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3138102 3-Oct-2023 08:37

Wombat1: But 5g is better and faster than 3G and 4G. More people on 5G means a better faster network. It’s like you saying the results can’t be accurate if some people are on adsl and some on fibre.

It would be more of a fair test if the rankings were based on network type: like for 3G, NZ places here, for 4G, NZ places here and for 5G, NZ places here...
Still not a perfect test, as you could have people testing from different distances but it's still an improvement from just showing countries

SpartanVXL

1317 posts

Uber Geek

#3138108 3-Oct-2023 08:47

Didn’t someone post that it was cheaper to get international roaming esims for data here vs buying locally?

Hopefully people catch on to the new true unlimited plans from mightyape and voyager.

old3eyes

9120 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3138143 3-Oct-2023 09:20

shk292:
old3eyes:
What $19 /month Spark plan gives you 7 Gig per month?

See my post at 17:18 above. All the spark prepay plans have data stack and if you stay with them you can build up a large stack to use each month. I guess it makes for good customer loyalty

So just rollover data ..

Regards,

Old3eyes

Wombat1

586 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#3138145 3-Oct-2023 09:26

stick:
Wombat1: But 5g is better and faster than 3G and 4G. More people on 5G means a better faster network. It’s like you saying the results can’t be accurate if some people are on adsl and some on fibre.

It would be more of a fair test if the rankings were based on network type: like for 3G, NZ places here, for 4G, NZ places here and for 5G, NZ places here...
Still not a perfect test, as you could have people testing from different distances but it's still an improvement from just showing countries

Your phone will grab the best connection available and that is how the speedtest is done. No need to break it down. It’s still a very good indication of which countries have the fastest mobile data.

shk292

2857 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3138390 3-Oct-2023 18:19

old3eyes
So just rollover data ..

No, data stack is not the same as rollover data. It's an additional data allowance that is added to your plan every month, on top of the base allowance. And the size of this additional stack grows by 100MB every month. Mine is currently around 6GB per month.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

mattwnz

20164 posts

Uber Geek

#3138392 3-Oct-2023 18:35

Linux:

Mobile data in New Zealand is cheap as chips!

On my prepay plan with One, casual data is 50cents per MB of data. That doesn't sound cheap to me.

elpenguino

3425 posts

Uber Geek

#3142800 4-Oct-2023 14:34

shk292:
old3eyes

So just rollover data ..

No, data stack is not the same as rollover data. It's an additional data allowance that is added to your plan every month, on top of the base allowance. And the size of this additional stack grows by 100MB every month. Mine is currently around 6GB per month.

Was talking to my lad today who said he has a similar thing on VF. It's called 'DataUp Bonus'.

I was puzzled as I couldn't see it on my account which is also VF. Had to read the fine print to learn it has to be enabled on the app.

So now I get ~2GB/month for my $16.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

RunningMan

8961 posts

Uber Geek

#3142808 4-Oct-2023 14:55

You only get the One NZ data up data after you've already used your monthly data and any carry over. Source.

shk292

2857 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3142815 4-Oct-2023 16:08

RunningMan:
You only get the One NZ data up data after you've already used your monthly data and any carry over. Source.

With spark the order is regular data, then data stack, then carry over. I rarely get through the data stack so my carry over remains at the max, which is 3.5GB on the $20 plan

Jase2985

13463 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#3142850 4-Oct-2023 20:27

stick:

Nah that isn't really accurate, since you could have people testing on 3G while other countries may have people testing on 5G, making the results inaccurate

100% accurate, you dont go out and change what cellphone generation (3/4/5) you are on in most if not all cases, you just test what ever generation you are on. so its accurate as its testing what people are using.

stick: It would be more of a fair test if the rankings were based on network type: like for 3G, NZ places here, for 4G, NZ places here and for 5G, NZ places here...
Still not a perfect test, as you could have people testing from different distances but it's still an improvement from just showing countries

it would be more fair to say 30% of the total test results were 5G, 65% 4G and 5% 3G or something like that.

quickymart

13966 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#3142869 4-Oct-2023 21:22

Would be nice if Vodafone did on-account rollover data, but would it change the ranking in this survey?

stick

357 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3142875 4-Oct-2023 22:10

Jase2985:

stick:

Nah that isn't really accurate, since you could have people testing on 3G while other countries may have people testing on 5G, making the results inaccurate

100% accurate, you dont go out and change what cellphone generation (3/4/5) you are on in most if not all cases, you just test what ever generation you are on. so its accurate as its testing what people are using.

True, but what if the population mainly had 4g handsets? Wouldn't that alter the results?

KiwiSurfer

1456 posts

Uber Geek

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Lifetime subscriber

#3142880 4-Oct-2023 22:38

It is easy to compare prices but so not easy to compare other factors e.g. coverage, capacity, etc.

Fair to say a lot of people would like cheaper mobile plans, that goes without saying.

But would we accept the lower level of coverage, the lower level of capacity, etc that would be acceptable elsewhere as trade-off for lower costs?

I don't think many realise how much work goes in behind the scenes to improve coverage. I think the RCG joint-venture between One/2degrees/Spark is really an unsung hero -- in the last few years they've build out over 300 rural sites with LTE service available to customers of all 3 carriers. Tiny towns get superb LTE coverage from all 3 carriers that would rarely see any sort of service from even one carrier in most countries. Rugged and low traffic highways get more LTE coverage than you'd find on a average highway in many countries--and that coverage is available to everyone regardless of carrier.

The 3 carriers also do a lot individually to improve coverage and capacity in urban areas, larger towns and the busier state highways. A lot of invisible work is adding more LTE carriers -- all 3 carriers in Auckland have grown from single carrier L1800 to 2degrees deploying some or all of L700+900+1800+2100, One L700+1800+1800+2100+2600 and especially Spark L700+1800+2100+2300+2300+2600. And 5G is adding even more capacity. Most people don't realise the work to do this is happening on a regular basis but it all does improve network performance. It's nearly impossible to find a place anywhere in NZ where demand outstrips capacity.

Whenever I go overseas the following is quite typical:

carriers refusing to pool resources to jointly improve rural coverage beyond what they can do individually
no service from any carrier in smaller towns and for long stretches along less busier highways
poor data speeds due to excessive traffic on low capacity sites in major cities
towns and highways with coverage only from certain carriers

Not saying everything in NZ is great, there is certainty room for improvement. But I think on the whole we get a good bargain considering the small income the carriers get from a small population and yet managing to regularly invest in improving coverage and capacity to the extent rarely seen elsewhere in the world.

And good deals can always be found -- like anything else it pays to shop around. NZ is also unlike many countries that for most people the service you will get from all 3 is more or less on par almost everywhere so it's not like many countries where your location dictates which carrier you have to go with. I am personally with Kogan and pay $20-something a month for 15GB.

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