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Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

Old Jun 6th 2009, 9:11 am
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Default Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

thought i had read on here that someone advised to take a UK mobile with you to NZ, due to cost of a new phone there... so went to shop yesterday to buy a new one, the guy said he honestly didnt want to sell me one as it would be a waste of money, they are not even guaranteed to work if its a quadband phone....

anyone took their Uk mobile over - does it work or not? is a decent mobile really expensive in NZ? last time i looked they seemed to be, the same phone by hubby has worked out as more than twice as expensive in NZ as I bought it for here, and it isnt even a top of the range gadget.

thanks for any answers.
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Old Jun 6th 2009, 9:35 am
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

as long as it's unlocked, it will work
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Old Jun 6th 2009, 9:38 am
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

Originally Posted by keeny
thought i had read on here that someone advised to take a UK mobile with you to NZ, due to cost of a new phone there... so went to shop yesterday to buy a new one, the guy said he honestly didnt want to sell me one as it would be a waste of money, they are not even guaranteed to work if its a quadband phone....

anyone took their Uk mobile over - does it work or not? is a decent mobile really expensive in NZ? last time i looked they seemed to be, the same phone by hubby has worked out as more than twice as expensive in NZ as I bought it for here, and it isnt even a top of the range gadget.

thanks for any answers.
Yep, should work out here unless it's locked. I've not a clue on prices, but greater competition in Uk would explain cheaper prices no doubt.
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Old Jun 6th 2009, 10:58 am
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

Originally Posted by keeny
thought i had read on here that someone advised to take a UK mobile with you to NZ, due to cost of a new phone there... so went to shop yesterday to buy a new one, the guy said he honestly didnt want to sell me one as it would be a waste of money, they are not even guaranteed to work if its a quadband phone....

anyone took their Uk mobile over - does it work or not? is a decent mobile really expensive in NZ? last time i looked they seemed to be, the same phone by hubby has worked out as more than twice as expensive in NZ as I bought it for here, and it isnt even a top of the range gadget.

thanks for any answers.
On my last trip to UK brought a bargain phone in UK (tesco 40 quid) unlocked for free on the net and have used it ever since. Same phone was $300 + over here although has come down since....
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Old Jun 6th 2009, 11:08 am
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

Originally Posted by keeny
thought i had read on here that someone advised to take a UK mobile with you to NZ, due to cost of a new phone there... so went to shop yesterday to buy a new one, the guy said he honestly didnt want to sell me one as it would be a waste of money, they are not even guaranteed to work if its a quadband phone....

anyone took their Uk mobile over - does it work or not? is a decent mobile really expensive in NZ? last time i looked they seemed to be, the same phone by hubby has worked out as more than twice as expensive in NZ as I bought it for here, and it isnt even a top of the range gadget.

thanks for any answers.
hi

get the phone unlocked in uk then buy pay as you go simm card in nz, mine worked ok, but buy mobiles in the uk before you go to nz it'll be cheaper, make sure they are unlocked, or get vodaphone, would of thought uk vodaphone would work in nz, but check with vodaphone.

j.j.
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Old Jun 6th 2009, 11:33 am
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

unfortunately a UK vodafone phone doesn't work on the NZ vodafone network without being unlocked - don't ask me why! I know this from personal experience, put a PAYG NZ Vodafone into my pay monthly Vodafone Sony Ericsson. No dice
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Old Jun 6th 2009, 1:41 pm
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

HI

I took my unlocked Nokia N95 last year on holls to to NZ and it worked fine with a p.a.y.g Vodafone sim i bought whilst there.
Wish i sold phone whilst there could of got a shed load more money than in UK.
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Old Jun 6th 2009, 3:21 pm
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

Mobiles or "cell phones" as they call them there are much more expensive. When I bought my last one in the UK for £80 and took it into a NZ phone shop they looked at it in awe ... then said if they had that type of phone there (which they didn't, but if they did) it would cost at least $600. Ive given it to my mum now
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Old Jun 7th 2009, 12:15 am
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

I've got a Sony Ericsson W810i which is about 3 years old now. In UK it was on O2 contract. Didn't need to get it unlocked to work in NZ. Just bought Vodafone PAYG sim and it worked fine. Equiv phone here was $899 Minimum Vodafone PAYG topup is $20. For $6 a month you can nominate a Best Mate number and then call/text unlimited that number and it will automatically renew if you've enough credit. For $10 a month you can buy an addon of 2000 texts to any other NZ vodafone mobile.
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Old Jun 7th 2009, 12:43 am
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

YES, IT DOES WORK. (Me & Paul We both used the UK phones here till 2007) But it took 2~3 months to unlock and make it work here though. Just bought a new phone recently: Sony Ericsson K770i Sandy Beige - actually that's for the first time buying a cellphone in NZ, seriously.. (much easier... Contract with Vodafone nz). I used to buy my phones (Siemens & Sony Erricson) from the UK, most of the time.

Last edited by crap coffee; Jun 7th 2009 at 1:38 am.
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Old Jun 7th 2009, 4:39 am
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

Originally Posted by TeamEmbo
I've got a Sony Ericsson W810i which is about 3 years old now. In UK it was on O2 contract. Didn't need to get it unlocked to work in NZ. Just bought Vodafone PAYG sim and it worked fine. Equiv phone here was $899 Minimum Vodafone PAYG topup is $20. For $6 a month you can nominate a Best Mate number and then call/text unlimited that number and it will automatically renew if you've enough credit. For $10 a month you can buy an addon of 2000 texts to any other NZ vodafone mobile.
Some phones are automatically unlocked whilst others are locked to a network. Best to find out in UK though as is much easier to unlock in UK.
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Old Jun 7th 2009, 5:18 am
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

Hey, I bought me a new phone when I was in the UK a few months back, easiest thing is to go to Carphone Warehouse and buy one of their Pay as You Go phones as they are not locked to any network, you will have to buy £10 worth of credit but you don't need to register the phone at all.

Happy with the phone I got but noticed one of the flip up Sony Ericsson one's I did look at, which was about £150 in Carphone, is still being sold at $900 in the Vodafone store over here at the moment!!!
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Old Jun 7th 2009, 5:03 pm
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

bloody hell.... i thought they would be more expensive in NZ but didnt bank on them being THAT much more expensive!!!! I think I will gamble, take the risk & buy a new phone here. The one I had seen in Phones4u was £88 and on O2 network, i'd rather risk losing that then pay out $600+ .

Thanks everyone.
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Old Jun 7th 2009, 7:05 pm
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

I would also advise doing some research on prices here via the www. Telecom have just launched a new network and there are some nice handsets available on there. I also had a quick look (out of interest and not wanting to diss the previous poster) at prices on CPW and then in NZ and found that a phone for 129 UKP goes for around $400 if you shop around - so not such a huge difference but I'm sure it varies by model.
Initial contracts tend to be for 24 months here and rates quite high, which is a good argument for an unlocked phone and PAYG (I use about $50 every 3 months)
Also worth having a look at this company who are breaking into the market as MVN operator on vodafone's network:
http://www.bw.co.nz/
Lastly from me, have a look on pricespy http://www.pricespy.co.nz/cat_8.html for the best price on a articular model if you have one in mind
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Old Jun 8th 2009, 12:57 am
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Default Re: Do UK mobiles work ok in NZ?

Originally Posted by keeny
thought i had read on here that someone advised to take a UK mobile with you to NZ, due to cost of a new phone there... so went to shop yesterday to buy a new one, the guy said he honestly didnt want to sell me one as it would be a waste of money, they are not even guaranteed to work if its a quadband phone....

anyone took their Uk mobile over - does it work or not? is a decent mobile really expensive in NZ? last time i looked they seemed to be, the same phone by hubby has worked out as more than twice as expensive in NZ as I bought it for here, and it isnt even a top of the range gadget.

thanks for any answers.
I brought over my Motorola V3xx but had to send it back to the UK to have it unlocked as i was apparently too new here ??? but it works fine now
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