Roaming

Set up your phone or tablet to roam

• Turn on your device when you get to your destination. If Auto Buy Roaming is enabled, or you have bought a roaming pack it'll activate or casual rates will start.
• To use the internet, enable data roaming with these steps:

Note: Switch this setting off when you're not using your phone to avoid extra data usage.

Stay informed about your roaming usage

• When you start roaming, you'll get a text with Spark roaming support details. Make sure you keep this message in case you need to call us. The Spark number is also on your Spark SIM and in the Spark app.
• iPads and tablets can’t get texts, so if you'd like to get usage alerts, please set these up on a mobile using MySpark. You can also set up alerts to be sent to an email address.
• You can track your usage and buy roaming packs while you're overseas with the Spark app or MySpark.
• Sign in to MySpark
• Get the Spark app

Know who to call if you have a roaming problem

• From within New Zealand, call 0800 Good2Go (0800 466 324)
• From Australia, UK, China, Thailand, Canada or Hong Kong, call +800 4663 2460. This is a free call from a landline when you're in one of the listed countries.
• From anywhere else in the world, contact the International Roaming Helpdesk. They’re available 24/7. Call +64 3 371 0866. This is a free call from a Spark mobile.
• You can also email roaming@spark.co.nz

Avoid extra roaming charges

• To control how much you spend while roaming, take a look at the roaming packs on offer by selecting your destination on the main roaming page
  • These packs include allowances for data, texts and calls or data only that you can use in 60 destinations
  • Roaming packs activate once you arrive in an eligible destination and use roaming services. You can either buy them before you travel or when you arrive.
  • Texts sent while roaming are charged per 160 characters, including spaces. Even if your mobile phone allows more characters, you'll be charged for multiple text messages if you exceed this limit.
  • Find out more about roaming charges

Understand usage alerts

• If you have a roaming pack, we’ll text you when you use 80% and 100% of your allowance
• There can be delays in billing of some roaming services. This is because the information must first reach Spark from the overseas network operator. This delay will affect the timeliness of usage alerts and usage meters.
• If you're using $11.50 for 200MB casual data, we'll text you at 100MB and 200MB of usage
• If you're using casual data in non-roaming pack destinations we'll text you at 2MB, 60MB and 100MB usage
• These texts are automatic. You can mute them, but you can't turn them off. To mute texts, set up a new contact in your phone for Spark alerts, and add these contact numbers:
  • 144
  • 154
  • 182
  • 183
  • 184
  • 185
  • 186
  • 258
• Within this new contact, update the settings to turn off audible alerts

If you lose your phone

If your mobile or tablet gets lost or stolen while overseas, contact the Roaming Helpdesk on +64 3 371 0866 straight away to block your SIM.

If you don't do this immediately, you'll be responsible for all roaming charges incurred on the device until it's blocked. If you've stored passwords on your mobile or tablet you should immediately change these.

Making calls while roaming

Make sure the numbers in your contacts list are in the international format so you can make calls and send texts without any issues.

All Spark mobiles and tablets offer +code (aka plus code) dialling. This lets you make calls, while roaming, without dialling the international access code.

Enter +, then the country code (for example 64 for New Zealand, 61 for Australia) followed by the phone number without the leading zero. For example:

• 027 123 4567 becomes +64271234567
• 09 345 6789 becomes +6493456789

Note:

• Not sure how to get the + symbol on your keypad? Pressing and holding the 0 (zero) key on most phones brings up the + key. On older phones it can be a long press, or many presses of the * or # keys.     
• Store phone numbers in your contact list in the international format. This way you'll always dial or text the correct number. Note: This won’t impact making calls or sending texts when back in New Zealand.
• Historically, voice calling operated over 3G networks, however 3G networks are gradually being retired worldwide. To check that you’ll be able to make calls over 4G, visit ‘Spark VoLTE Roaming’ for more information - Spark VoLTE Roaming

Access voicemail while roaming

• Call +64 83 083210 and wait for a message
• Type in your PIN
• Select # and listen to your messages
  

• Dial your own mobile number in +64 format and wait for the prompt
• Type in your PIN
• Select # and listen to your messages

Voicemail costs

• You'll get a charge to listen to a voicemail while roaming. This will be at the standard roaming per-minute rate for an outgoing call from the country you're in.
• Prepaid customers get a charge for voicemails left in their inbox while roaming. This occurs even if your phone is off. You'll get charged at the standard roaming per-minute rate to receive calls while roaming.
• To find the roaming rates for where you're going, search for your destination and check the casual rates. Search for your destination
• To turn off voicemail, call us on 123 if you're a residential customer, or 126 if you're a business customer. If you're calling from overseas, call +64 3 371 0866.

Personal Data

• The storage, treatment and transfer of personal data may be subject to regulation different from the regulation in New Zealand. Check with individual roaming carrier provider about their privacy practices.

USA roaming options

• Choose a roaming option for a low fixed price with no surprises. Prices are in NZD and include GST.
• 3G networks have been retired by some US carriers. Historically, voice calling operated over the 3G network. To check that you’ll be able to make calls over 4G, visit ‘Spark VoLTE Roaming’ for more information - Spark VoLTE Roaming

Travelling to many destinations

You can use the Roaming Pack and Roaming Data Pack in these destinations*:

In Oceania:

American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands (incl. Rarotonga), Fiji, French Polynesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu

In Europe:

Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy (including San Marino and Vatican City), Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands i.e. Jersey and Guernsey etc. and Isle of Man)

In Asia:

China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, Vietnam

In North America:

Canada, Mexico, 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.

If your destination isn't listed

If you visit a destination that's not available for roaming packs, you'll pay casual rates. Use the destination selector at the top of the main roaming page to find the specific prices.

Choose a roaming pack that works on multiple destinations

• There are two roaming packs to choose from: Roaming Pack or Roaming Data Pack
• Casual rates will apply if your destination isn't listed above or if you don't buy a roaming pack
• You can view the cost of roaming for each destination on the main roaming page
• If you're traveling to more than one destination included in the pack you don’t need to buy multiple packs. The same pack will work in all included destinations within the 14 days.
• The Roaming Pack and Roaming Data Pack lasts 14 days or until it's used up. If you'd like to use more, you can buy another pack.

This Roaming Policy describes roaming service specific terms and applies in conjunction with our Global Roaming Terms and Conditions. Spark General Terms and Mobile & Wireless Terms also applies to your use of the roaming service. If there are differences between the general and specific pack terms, the specific pack terms take precedence.

Eligibility

• The $30 Roaming and $25 Data Roaming Pack are available to Spark Pay Monthly mobile plan and prepaid customers for personal use in eligible destinations (eligible destinations are listed further down).

What's included?

• The Roaming pack provides 2GB of data, 300 standard person-to-person calling minutes and 300 standard person-to-person SMS for a 14 day period unless used earlier.
• The Roaming Data pack provides 2GB of data for a 14 day period unless used earlier.
• The outgoing calling allowance is for use within eligible destinations as well as calls to any country around the world and to the voicemail connected to the mobile number with the Roaming Pack . The included SMS allowance is for sending SMS to numbers within eligible destinations as well as sending messages overseas

What's not included?

• Non-person to person calls and premium numbers (1800, 1900, 0800) are excluded from the calling allowance and will be charged at casual rates specific to the country you’re in. Calls to satellite phones are charged at $17.25 per min regardless of your roaming location.
• Picture messaging/MMS and non-person to person texts are excluded from text allowance and will use data from the pack, or at casual data rates if there’s no data allocation remaining.

Eligible destinations

• In Oceania: American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands (incl. Rarotonga), Fiji, French Polynesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu
• In Europe: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy (including San Marino and Vatican City), Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands i.e. Jersey and Guernsey etc. and Isle of Man)
• In Asia: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, Vietnam
• In North America: Canada, Mexico, 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.

Activation, use and expiry

• Auto buy roaming packs or packs purchased prior to arrival are activated once first roaming use starts in the eligible destination. Roaming packs purchased in an eligible country are activated on first roaming use.
• Roaming entitlements expire within the period specified in the pack (following first roaming use in the eligible destination), or if pack inclusions are used up prior to pack expiry.
• The Roaming Pack and Data Roaming Pack are activated after first roaming use in eligible destinations and will expire 14 days after the first roaming use or full consumption of the pack inclusions.
• Roaming pack allocations aren't able to be shared. The data, text and call allocations can only be used from the mobile number they're purchased for.
• Your Pay Monthly mobile plan and / or prepaid pack entitlements cannot be used for roaming.
• Roaming allowances aren't valid within New Zealand, or in other roaming destinations (including cruise ships or flights).
• You can buy and have more than one roaming pack at a time if you need more allocation. The roaming pack which expires first will be used first.

Once a roaming pack inclusion has been consumed or the pack has expired customers will revert to casual (as shown below), unless they sign up for an additional roaming pack.

How services are provided

• Roaming relies on the use of overseas telecommunications networks which we don't control and therefore we can't offer any guarantees about the quality of roaming services.

Charging

• 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 charges that apply to roaming are in addition to any other charges which apply to your Pay Monthly mobile plan or prepaid pack.
• 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 premium numbers while roaming will be charged at the standard New Zealand rate
• Outgoing person-to-person texts are charged per 160 characters. There's no charge for incoming person-to-person texts. Inserting an emoji or non-text character into a text message will change the text message to non-standard. This will reduce the character count of the text message from 160 to 70 characters. This means you'll be charged $0.92 for text messages of 70 characters in length.
• Data roaming is charged in 10kb increments. For more info on managing your data use while travelling, check out Controlling my data roaming usage. Source for table below: New Zealand Telecommunications Forum Inc (TCF) International Mobile Roaming Guide, 2018.

• When roaming, sending and receiving picture/MMS messages 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.
  • Prepaid: Send a picture message to a Spark mobile or any email address for $0.20 per message per recipient. Send a picture message to another mobile network for $0.50 per message per recipient.
  • Pay Monthly: Send a picture message to a mobile on any network or any email address for $0.50 per message per recipient. Send a video message to a mobile on any network for $1 per message per recipient.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

• The Roaming Pack and Roaming Data Pack is activated after 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
• 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 current pack expires. Customers may manually purchase an additional roaming pack at any time.
• Once a Roaming Pack and/or Roaming Data Pack has been consumed or the pack has expired, customers will revert to casual rates (below) until another pack is purchased

Fair use policy

• Spark's fair use policy ensures everyone can access zero-rated (free) services, like My Spark and use them responsibly. If your use materially exceeds what we would consider normal use patterns over any day, then your use will be deemed excessive and/or unreasonable. As an example prolonged access to zero-rated content would be considered to breach this policy. If you breach this policy Spark may ask you to moderate your usage. If you fail to do so, Spark reserves the right, without further notice, to block your data usage.

Auto buy and billing

• 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 in MySpark or in the Spark app. Select the MySpark link that follows to go straight to the Mobile settings page where you can turn on Auto Buy Roaming.
• 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 current pack expires. Customers may manually purchase an additional roaming pack at any time.
• Pay Monthly Roaming Voice billing relies on the billing files to be sent from the carrier partner and processed by our billing systems, as such 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 pack purchased as back up if you intend to make or receive a lot of calls.

Contact us

• Should a fault arise while you are travelling please contact the Roaming helpdesk on +64 3 371 0866 or email roaming@spark.co.nz, so that we can raise the issue with the local network in your roaming destination.

This Roaming Policy describes roaming service specific terms. Spark General Terms and Mobile & Wireless Terms also applies to your use of the roaming service. If there are differences between the general and specific pack terms, the specific pack terms take precedence.

Eligibility

• The Australia Daily Roaming pack is available to Spark Pay Monthly mobile plan for personal use in Australia.

What's included?

• The Australia Daily Roaming pack provides 1GB of data, Unlimited Australia and New Zealand standard person-to-person calling minutes and within Australia for a 24 hour period, or after full consumption if earlier.
• The outgoing call allowance (unlimited) is for person to person calls to NZ and Aussie numbers and to the voicemail connected to the mobile number with the AUS Daily Roaming Pack. The outgoing text allowance (unlimited) is for SMS to NZ and Aussie person to person numbers only. Calls and SMS other than those listed incur casual rates (see the “Charges” section below).

What's not included?

• Call and text messages to numbers for destinations other than Australia and New Zealand.
• Non-person to person calls and premium numbers (1800, 1900, 0800) are excluded from the calling allowance and will be charged at casual rates specific to the country you’re in. Calls to satellite phones are charged at $17.25 per min regardless of your roaming location.
• 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.

Activation, use and expiry

• Auto Buy roaming packs or packs purchased prior to arrival are activated once first roaming use starts in the eligible destination. Roaming packs purchased are activated on first roaming use.
• Roaming entitlements expire within the period specified in the pack (following first roaming use in the eligible destination), or if pack inclusions are used up prior to pack expiry.
• The AUS Daily Roaming Pack is activated after first roaming use in eligible destinations and will expire 24 hours after the first roaming use or full consumption of the pack inclusions.
• Roaming pack allocations aren't able to be shared. The data, text and call allocations can only be used from the mobile number they're purchased for.
• Your Pay Monthly mobile plan and / or prepaid pack entitlements cannot be used for roaming.
• Roaming allowances aren't valid within New Zealand, or in other roaming destinations (including cruise ships or flights).
• You can buy and have more than one roaming pack at a time if you need more allocation. The roaming pack which expires first will be used first.
• Once a roaming pack inclusion has been consumed or the pack has expired customers will revert to casual (as shown below), unless they sign up for an additional roaming pack.

How services are provided

• Roaming relies on the use of overseas telecommunications networks which we don't control and therefore we can't offer any guarantees about the quality of roaming services.

Charging

• New Zealand rates don't apply when roaming.
• The charges that apply to roaming are in addition to any other charges which apply to your Pay Monthly mobile plan or prepaid pack.
• 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).
• Outgoing person-to-person texts are per 160 characters. There's no charge for incoming person-to-person texts. Inserting an emoji or non-text character into a text message will change the text message to non-standard. This will reduce the character count of the text message from 160 to 70 characters. This means you'll be charged $0.92 for text messages of 70 characters in length. Text messages to and from premium numbers while roaming will be charged at the standard New Zealand rate
• Data roaming is charged in 10kb increments. For more information on managing your data use while travelling, check out Controlling my data roaming usage
  Source for table below: New Zealand Telecommunications Forum Inc (TCF) International Mobile Roaming Guide, 2018.

• When roaming, sending and receiving picture/MMS messages 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. For Pay Monthly: Send a picture message to a mobile on any network or any email address for $0.50 per message per recipient. Send a video message to a mobile on any network for $1 per message per recipient.
• 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.
• 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.

Fair Use Policy

• Spark's Fair Use Policy ensures everyone can access zero-rated (i.e. free) services, like My Spark and use them responsibly. If your use materially exceeds what we would consider normal use patterns over any day, then your use will be deemed excessive and/or unreasonable. As an example prolonged access to zero-rated content would be considered to breach this policy. If you breach this policy Spark may ask you to moderate your usage. If you fail to do so, Spark reserves the right, without further notice, to block your data usage.

Auto buy and billing

• 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 in MySpark or in the Spark app. Select 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 current pack expires. Customers may manually purchase an additional roaming pack at any time.
• Pay Monthly Roaming Voice billing relies on the billing files to be sent from the carrier partner and processed by our billing systems, as such 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 pack purchased as back up if you intend to make or receive a lot of calls.

Contact Us

• Should a fault arise while you are travelling please contact the Roaming helpdesk on +64 3 371 0866 or email roaming@spark.co.nz, so that we can raise the issue with the local network in your roaming destination.

Prices are in NZD and include GST.

• Auto Buy Roaming will apply a new pack when you run out of allowances on your roaming pack or it expires. For example, if you have a $30 Roaming Pack and use all 2GB of data included in the pack, Auto Buy Roaming will apply a new pack. This happens even if you still have texts and/or minutes remaining. The two packs run in parallel until all usage is used up on the first pack or it expires. This is to ensure you're never charged overage rates in a roaming pack destination.
• If you manually buy a roaming pack and aren't using Auto Buy Roaming, you'll revert to casual rates once the pack expires, or any of the included allowances run out. This includes incoming calls which incur a charge while roaming.
  • If only one allowance runs out, you're only charged casual rates for that type of usage. For example, if you have a $30 Roaming Pack (includes minutes, texts and data) and run out of data allowance, you'll then incur casual data charges. Your minutes and texts will continue to be deducted from your pack until those allowances also run out, or the pack expires.
• The roaming pack charge is applied at the time of automatic or manual purchase.
• You'll incur casual charges for roaming usage in destinations that aren't covered by Spark's roaming packs. You'll receive a welcome text on arrival to a country that will let you know if a roaming pack is available or not.
  • Please check to see if any of the countries that you've been to are excluded from Sparks packs by looking at the list of eligible destinations on this page. See eligible destinations
• Calls to premium numbers, for example 1800, 1900 and even freephone numbers, aren't covered in the roaming pack as per the terms and conditions. Calls to satellite phones are charged at $17.25 per min regardless of your roaming location. See our Roaming policy
• Sending or receiving picture texts/MMS or videos will incur extra charges as they're not included in roaming packs. If sent using a data application (for example, Facebook Messenger, Whats App, email) they'll consume data from your pack, or incur casual data charges if you don't have a pack.
• Text messages over 160 characters (including spaces) count as more than one standard text. For example, a 200 character text will be counted and charged as two texts.
  • One standard text message is 160 characters
  • If a text message is over 160 characters, multiple texts will be generated based on the multiples of 160 characters in the message
  • There's no charge for receiving a text
  • Note: Emojis use 90 characters in a text message