New Caledonia eSIM
Orbislo carries traffic in New Caledonia on Mobilis, the single upstream network available in this destination. Where two networks exist we buy both, because the difference between one and two is the difference between a bad afternoon and a bad trip.
- Networks
- Mobilis
- Typical speed
- 44 Mbps typical, 10 Mbps at busy times
- 5G
- 4G only
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
What 44 Mbps actually means in New Caledonia
Typical download speed on Orbislo in New Caledonia: 44 Mbps. That sits close to the Oceania median of 39 Mbps, which makes New Caledonia an unremarkable place to be connected, in the good sense.
The tenth percentile is 10 Mbps. That gap between the median and the floor is normal and it is where the frustration lives: the connection is quick most of the time and noticeably slow in the busiest few percent of moments, typically at transport hubs at peak hour.
That is enough for everything most travellers do: maps, messaging, video calls, streaming at high definition, and tethering a laptop for ordinary work. It is not enough to be casual about uploading a day of raw photographs.
Which networks you will be on
Orbislo carries traffic in New Caledonia on Mobilis, the single upstream network available in this destination. Where two networks exist we buy both, because the difference between one and two is the difference between a bad afternoon and a bad trip.
This matters more than the headline speed. Almost every travel eSIM sold today resells a single upstream agreement per country, so when that one network has a bad hour you have a bad hour with it and your only option is to buy a second eSIM from somebody else. A profile with more than one network behind it can make a decision you never see.
5G in New Caledonia: 4G only. A well provisioned 4G cell comfortably outruns a congested 5G one, which is why the figure above is throughput rather than a network generation.
Landing in New Caledonia
Install before you fly, on your home wifi. The profile downloads while you still have a connection you trust, then sits dormant until you land in New Caledonia and it attaches to Mobilis.
On landing there is one thing to check: data roaming has to be switched on for the Orbislo line. It is off by default on both iOS and Android, and it has nothing to do with roaming charges here, because the plan is prepaid and there is no bill to run up. Turn it on for the Orbislo line and leave it off for your home line, and your home number keeps working for calls and bank codes without costing anything.
What is restricted in New Caledonia
- TikTok block, May 2024: During the riots of May 2024 the French government declared a state of emergency in New Caledonia and cut off access to TikTok across the territory. On 1 April 2025 the Conseil d'État ruled that block illegal, because it was total and set for no fixed period.
- Future social media blocks: The same ruling confirmed that the government can still suspend a social network in exceptional circumstances, but only when events are especially serious, no less restrictive technical measure is available at once, and the suspension lasts only as long as it takes to put such a measure in place.
- Approved handsets: The network's terms allow only handsets that meet the standards approved under article 252-1 of New Caledonia's posts and telecommunications code, and forbid putting the operator's SIM into equipment that is not approved.
- Internet calling: Voice over the internet has sat outside the public operator's legal monopoly since a 2008 judgment of the Nouméa administrative court. The monopoly still covers ordinary mobile and fixed telephony.
- Two hour call limit: Every call on the local mobile network is cut automatically after two continuous hours. The operator's terms describe this as protection against calls left running by mistake or hijacked by a third party.
Worth knowing about New Caledonia
- The territorial operator describes its mobile network as three technologies, where 2G and 3G carry voice and mobile internet while 4G carries mobile internet only, and it set the final switch off of 2G for 1 January 2026.
- New Caledonia sits outside the European roam like at home area. The list of places where a European allowance travels without a surcharge covers French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Reunion and Saint Martin, and New Caledonia is named on none of it.
- Dial 15 for the SAMU medical emergency service, 17 for the police and 18 for the fire brigade. For trouble at sea, 16 reaches the New Caledonia maritime rescue coordination centre.
- Under New Caledonia's posts and telecommunications code, carrying calls to the emergency services free of charge is part of the public telecommunications service the territory's operator must provide.
- A local mobile line that has been suspended can no longer make calls or go online, but it can still receive calls and can still reach the emergency services.
- Local prepaid kits are sold to residents and to foreigners visiting New Caledonia. The calls, texts and data bundled with a new kit last 30 days from activation, while any monetary credit on it lasts 90 days.
- Once prepaid credit expires, the number survives another 90 days. After that the SIM is deactivated and the number is lost. Each credit top up extends validity by 120 to 180 days depending on its value, up to a ceiling of 360 days.
- On a local prepaid kit, voice and video calls made through apps count against the data allowance like any other traffic, and internet calling is expressly allowed on both the starting data and later data top ups.
- Under article 42 of New Caledonia's economic regulation deliberation of 6 October 2004, a mobile customer has 15 clear days to withdraw from a purchase. Asking for the service to start at once gives up that right as soon as it begins.
How New Caledonia compares across Oceania
- Regional typical speed
- 30.5 Mbps
- Upstream networks
- One network, Mobilis
- 5G
- 4G only
- Next fastest nearby
- Guam, 52 Mbps
- Next slowest nearby
- French Polynesia, 39 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 1: Noumea
