Less than four months since the initial launch, uptake for the One NZ Satellite TXT service is proving hugely popular, with New Zealanders already having sent one million messages through space at no extra cost. The service has continued to expand eligibility adding more phones and expanding from Pay Monthly plans to include Prepay since launch.
Throughout the last few months, partner SpaceX has continued to launch Starlink Direct to Cell satellites that power the texting service. With over 500 Starlink satellites with Direct to Cell capability now in orbit, we’ve seen a dramatic improvement in the time it takes for a message to send or receive through space. The vast majority of messages are now sent and received within three minutes, with most in a minute or less. While the satellite network offers coverage like never before it also offers an extra layer of resilience in extreme weather events that affect power to the ground based mobile network.
Joe Goddard, Experience and Commercial Director, One NZ
A million messages is an epic milestone. That’s a million times a Kiwi or Kiwi business has stayed in touch with a friend, colleague, or loved one when they previously couldn’t, or stayed safer while enjoying our incredible country, or more productive as they get information that otherwise would have had to wait. These single moments all add up to a safer, more resilient and more productive New Zealand. We started with a handful of devices, and through the hard work of our testing and network engineering teams, we tested new phones up and down the country before we certified them for satellite texting. We’re now nearing 30 different handsets that you can use, with more planned.
