The telecommunications market in New Zealand is fully liberalised and ultra-competitive. Fixed line communications exist in a structurally separated market, with many wholesale infrastructure providers prohibited from competing in the retail space, and retailers having equal access to copper and fibre last mile connectivity on a national basis. Three cellular providers operate infrastructure networks, and there are five national fibre networks connecting cities and towns with 80% or more of the population.

Until 2017, New Zealand's sole modern submarine cables were operated by the Southern Cross Cable Network. SCCN cables link New Zealand to Sydney and Hawaii, though due to the pricing of connectivity in Hawaii, all of New Zealand's US-bound capacity exits on the west coast of the United States. 2017 saw the Tasman Global Access (TGA) cable, a new high-speed link to Sydney, come into production.

In 2018 the Hawaiki cable came online. The Sydney to Oregon cable branches to New Zealand and has a landing in Honolulu. It's a unique project in that it's privately backed, not funded by a consortium of telcos who might restrict its use.

New Zealand hosts several satellite earth stations, and terminates traffic for a number of Pacific islands and parts of Antarctica.