Until 2014 the incumbent monopoly telecoms provider for the Cook Islands was a joint venture between the government and the former Telecom New Zealand (now Spark). In 2015 Telecom Cook Islands was sold to the BlueSky Group, who also operated networks in American Samoa and Samoa. In 2016 BlueSky was acquired by Fiji's ATH group, and in 2020 BlueSky Cook Islands was re-branded as Vodafone Cook Islands.

Legislation passed in late 2019 has removed the monopoly over telecommunications and it's possible new, competitive ventures may appear in the Cook Islands.

The Cook Islands's primary connectivity is through the Manatua submarine cable, which connects Rarotonga and Aitutaki together and to Tahiti, Niue, and Samoa. Secondary connectivity is available via O3b medium earth orbit satellite network. C-band geostationary satellite links connect smaller islands together. Rarotonga and Aitutaki have developed market infrastructure including fibre, DSL, and 4G mobile networks.