What is mobile data?
Mobile data is delivered to your phone over a mobile network, distinct from your WiFi connection at home.
Mobile data lets your phone connect to the internet, powering your Apps, email refreshes, your weather updates, and downloads.
If you run out of mobile data, you might experience slower speeds, or pay extra.
What uses mobile data.
- Video, music, and updates use the most data - TikTok, Youtube, Instagram.
- Apps running in the background can use data without you realising it.
Almost all of the Apps on your phone will use data at some point, and some will use a lot more than others. Some Apps will use data while you're actively using them, and some Apps will still use data while they're running in the background.
You might have set your phone up to do Cloud backups which can use a lot of data.
How your data usage works.
Your phone uses data when you browse websites, stream music, and use Apps and social media. The amount of data that's used depends on each kind of activity. Simply checking your email and some web-browsing might use a small amount of data, while videos on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are likely to use a lot more.
As an example of file sizes, a standard quality song on Spotify might be around 3MB. While the same song at very high sound quality might be 10MB in size.
Most mobile plans have a data allowance, which is the amount of data you can use during your billing period.
If you don't want to worry about that, our One Plan includes Unlimited data, so you don't need to think about your usage. Follow the Fair Use policy, and you can carry on using data.
For plans that do have a limit, once you reach your max speed allowance, you may be charged casual rates on older Prepay plans, or you might experience reduced speeds on some Pay Monthly plans.
How to control your Mobile data
Stay in control.
Remember that how your Apps use data is all within your control. You make your data last longer by using WiFi, and turning mobile data off.
Did you know you can restrict access to mobile data for individual Apps? This can be done in iOS - and in Android.
Get more data.
You can also get more data if you need it, so check the My One NZ App for a Max Speed Data Boost, or an Unlimited Burst Add-On for Prepay Plus.
Look through our Add-Ons for Pay monthly.
Things you can do to control data usage.
- Track your usage. Use our My One NZ App or sign in to My One NZ to understand your usage.
- Check how much data, calling minutes and TXTs are on your plan. Knowing your limits will help you to avoid going over them.
- Use the 'Low Data Mode' in iOS or the "Data Saver" setting in Android to restrict background usage.
- Use WiFi whenever you can. Make your mobile data last longer by using WiFi wherever you can. Use WiFi Calling in any location covered by WiFi, both here in NZ, and when travelling overseas.
- Turn off background data and delete your unused apps. Many apps will use data in the background, even when you're not using them. Force-close Apps that might be using data.
- Be aware of data roaming charges. Data roaming charges can be expensive. So if you're traveling outside of New Zealand, be sure you know about the data roaming rates.
To stay in control, check your data usage in the My One NZ app, adjust your phone settings to suit you, and add more data when you need it.