Best Group Family Phone + Broadband Deals

Things have a habit of growing out of hand. One minute you’re single, the next you’ve a partner and then, somehow, there are a couple of teens lurking around your home. From only having to worry about your own mobile, you’re suddenly responsible for four mobile phone plans plus the household broadband. So if you’re in charge of organising your household’s data needs, which group phone and internet bundles offer the best deals? Canstar Blue looks at the best group family phone + broadband deals.

Only three mobile phone providers offer group data deals plus internet:

• 2degrees
• Spark
• Vodafone

And of those three, only 2degrees and Vodafone offer a discount for bunding your phone and internet together: $10 per month off broadband.

So, overall, once you take into consideration things like the bundle discount and the offer of free streaming services, how do the three stack up? Let’s explore!

NB: for this comparison, we use a standard 300/100Mbps broadband connection, although we have marked the extra price for 900/500Mbps.

Group Family Phone + Broadband: The Deals

2degrees, Spark and Vodafone’s prices:

2degrees

MOBILE ENDLESS DATA

2degrees has two endless data mobile plans:

• Main user $75/m (40GB)
• Main user $90/m (100GB)

Plan features:

• Free data hour every day
• Unlimited NZ/OZ texts
• Unlimited minutes to NZ/OZ mobiles & landlines
• Hotspotting included
• 5G ready

Companion plans: $30/m

Unlimited Broadband 300/100

SPARK

Spark’s new Team Up takes a different approach to group plans. Instead of allowing you to add companion plans for a set price, everyone is allowed to choose their own plan, from a selection of four, and a percentage discount is applied based on the total number of plans.

Team up allows you to select from the following plans:

You can then add up to three additional plans, all of which can be chosen from the above four plan options, allowing everyone to select the plan that’s right for them. The more plans the bigger the savings:

• 2 plans – 20% saving
• 3 plans – 30% saving
• 4 plans – 35% saving

Due to the nature of the Team Up structure, calculating actual costs is difficult. For example, four people all on the cheapest $25 plan, with the 35% discount, would cost just $16.25 per person. Whereas two people on the Uncapped Endless plan would pay $80 a month each.

Plan features:

• Free Spotify Premium ($14.99/m) with the 50GB and uncapped plans (half-price on the 14GB plan)
• Six months free Spark Sport ($19.99/m) for new customers (three months for those upgrading) on any of the Endless data plans
• Hotspot in line with plan’s data allowance, except 14GB plan, which is limited to 3GB hotspot data
• Unlimited NZ/OZ texts
• Unlimited minutes to NZ/OZ mobiles & landlines
• Add NEON for only $13.99/month (save $4/m)

Unlimited Broadband 300/100

$90p/m (+$15 for 900/500)

• Open term
• BYO router or buy for $106.20
• Free Netflix Standard ($18.49/m)
• Free McAfee Security Standard ($4.95/m)
• Six months free Spark Sport ($19.99/m) for new customers

Vodafone

MOBILE ENDLESS DATA

Vodafone has two endless data mobile plans:

• Main user $60/m (12GB)
• Main user $80/m (Unlimited Max Speed Data)

Plan features:

• Unlimited NZ/OZ texts
• Unlimited minutes to NZ/OZ mobiles & landlines
• 250mins & 50 texts to std numbers to 20 countries
• Hotspotting included
• 5G ready

Companion plans: $35/m

Unlimited Broadband 300/100

How do 2degrees, Spark and Vodafone compare?

2degrees

2degrees offers the cheapest phone and broadband bundles. Four 40GB plans and broadband for $230 per month is a great deal. Its free router is another plus, as Vodafone ($48) and Spark ($106.20) charge for theirs. Plus, its free Amazon Prime Video ($8/m) for a year, is an extra $96 sweetener!

Spark

Spark’s deals are the most expensive. However, Spark’s plans do come with free Netflix Standard ($18.49/m) and a free Spotify Premium ($14.99/m) account on the 50GB and Unlimited plans.

If you factor in that you can buy a family Spotify account for $22.50, which offers six separate users, in our four-plan example, that adds up to a saving of $40.99 across Netflix and Spotify.

While this does reduce the overall cost of Spark’s deals, if you already pay for those streaming services, it still makes Spark more expensive overall that its competitors.

However, Spark does allow you to mix up your plans, which can add extra value if your family members have different data needs and not all members need data-heavy plans.

Vodafone

Four plans on Vodafone’s 12GB deal, for $165, is pricey when compared to the 40GB you get for the same price over at 2degrees. However it’s probably priced that way to incentivise you to pay $20 extra per month for Vodafone’s new One plan, which offers very tasty unlimited data with no speed caps.

Four unlimited data plans with no speed caps, and broadband all for $260 is a great deal. Especially when you consider that Vodafone’s broadband offer comes with its much advertised SuperWifi deal, which promises fast wi-fi throughout your home. However, to qualify for this you do have to sign up for 24-months of broadband.

→ Related article: Vodafone SuperWifi: What Is It and Is It Worth the Money?

Group Family Phone + Broadband: the verdict

If everyone on your group plan is a big data consumer, then Vodafone broadband plus four One plans, offering unlimited full-speed data is a great deal for $260.

But on price alone, if you’re all happy with an allowance of 40GB full-speed data, then 2degrees is the cheapest deal.

However, if streaming services are important to you, then Spark could be the best value choice. For on top of free Netflix and Spotify subscriptions, it also offers an additional saving of $4 per month on a NEON subscription, which all adds up to a streaming good deal. Especially since Spark allows you to mix your plans, allowing data-lite users to stick to the cheaper plans, thus bringing down the overall cost of your broadband and mobile combo.