One New Zealand broadened the customer reach of its free satellite messaging service by expanding the range of compatible handsets to include the Samsung Galaxy S25 and S23 series.

Experience and commercial director Joe Goddard noted in a statement customer feedback has been positive, with more than half of all subscribers with compatible handsets already accessing the new service, which uses Starlink infrastructure.

“Both Starlink and One New Zealand continue to work at pace to keep improving this innovative technology and offer it to more of our customers, and we’re excited to announce new phones very soon as they pass our field testing.” Goddard added.

The operator explained its Satellite TXT service will improve in the coming months as more satellites are added, with the average time it takes to send and receive text messages already falling since launch and expected to eventually drop to a minute on average. This compares to three minutes indicated in initial testing.

At launch in December, One NZ claimed it was the first operator globally to offer the commercial nationwide service. Eligible handsets at the time were the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6, Galaxy Z Fold6, Galaxy S24 Ultra and Oppo Find X8 Pro.

In October 2024, Starlink parent SpaceX received approval to begin operating its satellite across New Zealand.