Telstra Overseas Roaming Explained

November 16, 2025

Heading off on an overseas adventure and want to stay connected? This guide will answer your key questions on Telstra international roaming, including the kicker:

"How much is it going to cost me?"

How much will it cost?
How much data will I get?
Can I make calls and send texts?
How do I turn it on?
Alternatives
Coverage & Supported Countries
Useful Links

How much will it cost?

Telstra offers roaming day passes, and how much they cost depends on which country you're heading to. Telstra puts them into three buckets - Zone 1, Zone 2 and Zone 3 (we've got a list of countries in those zones below)

For a Zone 1 country, roaming will cost you $5 per day.
For Zone 2 and Zone 3 countries it'll be $10 per day.

How much data will I get?

You'll get 2GB of data to use per day*. You can also buy an extra data pack for $10 which will give you 2GB to use over 31 days

*Unfortunately this only applies to Zone 1 and Zone 2 countries. Those heading to Zone 3 get no data (sad).

Can I make calls and send texts?

Yes, you can. You get "Unlimited calls and SMS to standard international numbers from eligible destinations."

How do I turn it on?

You can activate roaming via the MyTelstra app. Select your service, then Extras and International Roaming. Turn Day Pass on.

Alternatives

If you're reading the above and saying "damn that's so many dollars I could be spending on pasta in Italy 🇮🇹", then there is another option for you that's a little friendlier on the wallet.

RoamMate offers travel eSIMs for your overseas adventures. They're data only packages and they're much more cost effective than Telstra's offering. No calls or texts, but you can still use services like WhatsApp, Instagram and Google Maps which use a data connection.

For example, for your 2 week pasta tour of Italy you could grab our Europe 10GB 30 Days eSIM instead of buying Telstra day passes:

	Telstra	RoamMate
Keeping in touch	Yes, calls and texts over cell network	Yes, using apps that work over data (iMessage, Facetime, WhatsApp etc)
Data allowance	28* GB total (*2 GB per day)	10 GB total, used over your trip
Price	$140 🤯❌	$40 ✅

Yes, you're reading that right, that's $100 difference. Sure, you get more data from Telstra, but in order to take advantage you need to be burning 2 GB per day, rather than enjoying the piazza's of Rome. Check out our eSIMs here.

Coverage & Supported Countries

Telstra puts them into three buckets - Zone 1, Zone 2 and Zone 3

Zone 1

In Zone 1, you'll pay $5 per day to get 2GB of data, unlimited calls and texts. Those 7 countries are in Oceania, and they are:

Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa (Western), Tonga, Vanuatu

Zone 2

In Zone 2, you'll pay $10 per day to get 2GB of data, unlimited calls and texts. Zone 2 covers most of the other countries Telstra supports:

Africa

Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa

Americas

Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, United States of America, Uruguay

Asia

Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, East Timor (Leste), Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos*, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam

Europe

Armenia, Austria, Belarus*, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation*, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom

*There are exceptions for Belarus and Russian Federation, see the Telstra website for more details