Vodafone offers free roaming for Australians visiting New Zealand

Vodafone Australia announced to waive AU$5 per day roaming fee for customers travelling to New Zealand until Feb. 1, 2017. The company will conduct a trial run for free roaming in NZ for the next 12 months. Vodafone may also add Britain and Canada to its free roaming plan in the coming days.

“Today I am pleased to announce that Vodafone Australia is strengthening its ties to New Zealand by opening its ‘network borders’ to include New Zealand,” said Vodafone Australia chief marketing officer Loo Fun Chee, in a press note.

The free roaming service will only be available to Vodafone prepaid ­customers on Red and SIM Only plans. While in NZ, the telco will allow Australians to make phone calls, text messages and mobile data. This move may help Vodafone to get new customers.

According to The Australian, this international free roaming service may become useful to 600,000 New Zealanders residing in Australia. This service is a result of a newly signed deal between Vodafone and Australian airline Qantas. This collaboration will help Vodafone to get new mobile subscribers via Qantas Frequent Flyer points.

The subscription, renewal and upgradation of the Qantas Red Plan with Vodafone will enable its customers to earn up to 15,000 Qantas points. As a part of the deal, Aquire, the business rewards program of Qantas has also teamed up with Vodafone. Thus, now businesses could earn up to 15,000 Aquire Points through the Qantas Business Red plan

Moreover, thanks to the deal, Qantas will also start selling Vodafone-locked smartphones and Vodafone SIM cards to all inter­national pasengers coming into Australia. According to Ms. Chee, in the coming year Vodafone may consider expanding the free roaming offer in few of the 52 countries where the company has a strong network. reports ZDNet.