Noumea eSIM
In Noumea you connect to Mobilis, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The typical speed across the country is 44 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- Mobilis
- Typical speed in New Caledonia
- 44 Mbps typical, 10 Mbps at busy times
- 5G
- 4G only
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
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
Landing at La Tontouta International Airport (NOU)
- Airport
- NOU / NWWW
- Distance
- 37 km from the centre of Noumea
- Wifi on arrival
- Free wifi in the terminalThe airport operator CCI-NC states free Wifi access in the entire passenger area at Noumea La Tontouta. The site does not publish a network name or a login method.
- SIM on arrival
- No SIM counter in the terminalThe airport's own shops page lists only Aelia Duty Free and the X-Plora souvenir shop, with no mobile operator or SIM counter. NC Pocket Wifi rents mobile internet devices from the departures hall instead.
Getting into Noumea
- Road transfer from La Tontouta (Paita) to Noumea (NOU)
Worth knowing about Noumea
- La Tontouta is in Paita, roughly 37 to 50 km northwest of Noumea, so the transfer from an international flight is a substantial road trip.
- New Caledonia has no railway at all; the only line, Noumea-Paita, closed in 1940, so road transport is the sole option.
- Noumea Magenta Airport, the small in-city field for Loyalty Islands flights, was set to close in March 2026 with its flights moving to La Tontouta.
- Noumea sits on a peninsula at the southern end of Grande Terre, New Caledonia's main island.
- The city of Noumea runs a free public wifi service on the network WIFI NOUMEA. On a first connection you register on a portal, and an identifier and password are then sent to you by email or by SMS.
- WIFI NOUMEA browsing sessions last two hours and are renewable within the service's opening hours. The city states that downloading is limited and varies with the hotspot location and network capacity.
- La Tontouta airport lists NC Pocket Wifi in the departures hall as a paid mobile internet rental, with a New Caledonia offer and a World offer, alongside its free passenger wifi.
- NC Pocket Wifi devices must be reserved in advance online at ncpocketwifi.com. The airport says the company is present at all flight arrivals and departures, and can also deliver across Noumea.
- OPT-NC's Gondwana-1 submarine cable, 2152 km from Noumea to Sydney, opened in 2008. Gondwana-2, 1515 km from Noumea to Suva in Fiji, followed in 2022.
- OPT-NC states that with a single international cable, a failure would have left New Caledonia cut off from the global internet for several days or even several weeks.
- The domestic Picot-1 cable, 233 km, links Poindimie on Grande Terre to Ouvea and Lifou. Picot-2 added Mont-Dore, Yate, Mare, Lifou and the Isle of Pines to the loop.
- The Pass Taneo is a personal rechargeable card that works as an electronic wallet, covering the four communes of Greater Noumea: Dumbea, Mont-Dore, Noumea and Paita. The first card is free.
- Taneo states that no payment is possible on board its buses and that tickets must be bought before boarding, at the Moselle agency, partner resellers, ticket machines on the network, or on taneo.nc.
- OPT-NC's Helia brand sells tourist prepaid kits at 3000 XPF for 15 GB and 5000 XPF for 30 GB of mobile internet, each valid 30 days and including calls and unlimited SMS.
- Helia prepaid kits are eSIM compatible. The activation code arrives by email within two hours between 6am and 7pm, or the following day if the request is made after 7pm.
- OPT-NC describes itself as a public actor in planning and economic development carrying out public service missions, and runs telecommunications including the Mobilis mobile network, postal services and banking.