Executive summary
Consisting of 15 islands spread over 2.2 million sq kms, the Cook Islands lie in the centre of the Polynesian Triangle. Like many other Pacific countries, the Cook Islands suffers from the same enormous problems of distance and a small population. Tourism is a major source of income for the islands with more than 100,000 tourists expected to visit the islands in 2010.
All telecommunications services are currently provided by the monopoly operator, Telecom Cook Islands Ltd, which is majority-owned by Telecom New Zealand. There have been calls over several years from the local Chamber of Commerce for this to change by opening up the telecom sector to competition and bring a much needed economic boost to the country.
The government’s proposed reform to the telecommunications sector is likely to occur in 2010. Meanwhile two alternative operators, Caribbean-based mobile group Digicel and locally based Mervin Communications have both shown expressions of interest in entering the market but are currently stifled by legislation.
Around 85% of households have fixed-line connections. A GSM/GPRS digital mobile service was launched in Rarotonga, the main island, at the end of 2003. TCI launched a prepaid WiFi Internet service in September 2005 and a residential ADSL service on Rarotonga in April 2006. By 2008 TCI had upgraded its core mobile network to allow the launch of new services such as integrated SMS, voice mail, GPRS and prepaid mobile.
Satellite services from the O3b consortium may finally bring faster broadband to the islands in 2011 using medium earth orbit satellites. The O3b Networks Ltd is a network company with the financial backing of Google, HSBC and SES. The group aims to build an Internet infrastructure based on MEO satellites providing high-speed Internet and telecommunications access to emerging countries, although the costing of US$500 million may delay the launch date beyond late 2011.
Market highlights:
- The government intends to open the telecoms market to completion;
- Cyberbooth Internet access costs $6 for 30 minutes;
- Other mobile operators have expressed an interest to enter the market place.
Cook Islands: key mobile parameters – 2009 - 2010
Category
| 2009
| 2010
|
|---|
Mobile subscribers (e)
| 11,500
| 12,000
|
Annual change
| 4.5%
| 4.3%
|
Mobile penetration
| 61%
| 63%
|
Mobile operators*
| 1
| 2
|
(Source: BuddeComm)
Note: *Based on the mobile market opening to competition.
Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.
