Vodafone Australia has revealed plans to temporarily waive roaming charges for customers traveling to New Zealand as part of an evolution of its flat-rate roaming service.
Users subscribed to the operator's Red and SIM Only plans will be able to use their existing allocations in New Zealand without paying the A$5 ($3.55) per day flat-rate roaming fee, the company said.
Vodafone said it will trial the new roaming offer until December 1.
The operator launched A$5 per day flat-rate roaming two years ago, and now offers the service in 50 countries.
But Vodafone Australia chief marketing officer Loo Fun Chee said many consumers remain reluctant to adopt international roaming, and the New Zealand trial is aimed at addressing these barriers.
“The fact is many Australians are not able to roam with confidence and ease. We know that sometimes paying your regular mobile bill can be difficult enough, but imagine paying for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in roaming,” she said.
“I’m not surprised that many people feel the best solution to avoid the roaming rort is to leave their phones at home when they travel overseas.”
Travel between Australia and neighboring New Zealand is frequent, and over 600,000 New Zealand born residents now live in Australia. Chee said this makes the market the perfect location to trial the tweaked flat-rate roaming service.