Connect House Utilities

Telephone Landline & Internet

Getting Connected

Telecom New Zealand looks after everything related to phone lines and connections. If there has previously been a phone connected in your home, setting up your phone connection is straightforward. However, you will be charged a connection fee, which will probably be included in your first monthly bill. Click here for more information.

If you are moving to a house that has not had phone services connected in the past, call Telecom from New Zealand on 123. Call well in advance of your move, so Telecom can check if service is currently available and arrange for any additional work that may be required to connect your home phone. Note that fees will apply to have a connection installed, which are likely to be included in your first monthly bill.

Call Plans & Internet

There are four main phone call and internet service providers in New Zealand - Telecom, Vodafone (ihug), Slingshot and TelstraClear. All four companies offer home phone and internet packages, as well as calling plans to suit your needs. Make sure you ask about international calling rates too.

Most locations in New Zealand have access to high speed internet or 'Broadband'. Wireless connections are also available. Check with your sevricer provider to make sure you can get this high speed service in your area.

Mobile Telephone

Telecom (027) Vodafone (021) and TelstraClear (028) all offer mobile phone services. You can choose either a Pre-Pay option, which works using a credit upload system, or set up an account where you will be billed each month for the service.

Call one of these three providers or visit one of hundreds of retail outlet stores across the country where you can buy your pre-pay phone (comes with pre-allocated phone number), or buy a phone and set-up an account.

Electricity & Gas

Your electricity and gas provider will depend on where you are located. For a list of retail electricity providers in your area, click here. It's also a good idea to ask your new neighbours who they use.

There are three types of electricity companies in New Zealand - generation, lines and retail (ie. supply power to consumers). Most generation companies also provide retail services. For example, Mighty River Power is a generator, but operates a retail company called Mercury Energy. Contact Energy is also a generator and a retailer.

Pay TV

SKY Television (SKY) is New Zealand's main Pay TV operator, offering a wide range of sports, movies, music, on-demand and general content across more than 100+ channels.

SKY's channel line-up includes 7 sports channels, 5 movie channels, 7 general entertainment channels, 5 documentary channels, 5 news channels, 4 children's channels, as well as other niche channels.

Sky offers a standard package to which you can then add channels of your choice. For more information, visit www.skytv.co.nz. Make sure you ask about the cost of the decoder and/or any special satelite dishes or antennae you may need for your roof.