earth science

Telecommunications in the Cook Islands

Telecommunications in the Cook Islands is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Telecommunications in the Cook Islands rather than just read about it. In short: Telecommunications in the Cook Islands is limited by the country's low population and isolation, like most countries and territories in Oceania. There is only one major television broadcasting station and six radio stations.

Key takeaways

Telecommunications in the Cook Islands belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Telecommunications in the Cook Islands to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Telecommunications in the Cook Islands from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Telecommunications in the Cook Islands is limited by the country's low population and isolation, like most countries and territories in Oceania. There is only one major television broadcasting station and six radio stations. However, most Cook Islands residents have a main line or mobile phone. Its telecommunications are mainly provided by Telecom Cook Islands, who is currently working with O3b Networks, Ltd. for faster Internet connection. Telecom Cook Islands was majority owned by Spark New Zealand until 2015, when it sold its interest to Teleraro Limited.

Telephone

Telecom Cook Islands is the islands' main telephone system and offers international direct dialling, Internet, email, fax, and Telex. Telecom Cook Islands was majority owned by Spark New Zealand until February 2015, when Spark sold its 60% interest for approximately NZ$23 million (US$17.3 million) to Teleraro Limited, which was 75% owned by Bluesky Samoa. In 2019 Amalgamated Telecom Holdings (ATH) of Fiji bought a controlling stake in the Bluesky group, which gives ATH control of Telecom Cook Islands. Since 2020 Telecom Cook Islands has had the trading name of Vodafone Cook Islands. In July 2012, there were about 7,500 main line telephones, which covers about 98% of the country's population. There were approximately 7,800 mobile phones in 2009. The individual islands are connected by a combination of satellite earth stations, microwave systems, and very high frequency and high frequency radiotelephone; within the islands, service is provided by small exchanges connected to subscribers by open wire, cable, and fibre-optic cable. For international communication, they rely on the satellite earth station Intelsat. In 2003, the largest island of Rarotonga started using a GSM/GPRS mobile data service system with GSM 900 by 2013 3G UMTS 900 was introduce covering 98% of Rarotonga with HSPA+. In March 2017 4G+ launch in Rarotonga with LTE700 (B28A) and LTE1800 (B3). Mobile service covers Aitutaki GSM/GPRS mobile data service system in GSM 900 from 2006 to 2013 while in 2014 3G UMTS 900 was introduce with HSPA+ stand system. In March 2017 4G+ also launch in Aitutaki with LTE700 (B28A). The rest of the Outer Islands (Pa Enua) mobile was well establish in 2007 with mobile coverage at GSM 900 from Mangaia 3 villages (Oneroa, Ivirua, Tamarua), Atiu, Mauke, Mitiaro, Palmerston in the Southern Group (Pa Enua Tonga) and the Northern Group (Pa Enua Tokerau) Nassau, Pukapuka, Rakahanga, Manihiki 2 Village (Tukao, Tauhunu) and Penrhyn 2 villages (Omoka Tetautua). The Cook Islands uses the country calling code +682.

Broadcasting There are six radio stations in the Cook Islands, with one reaching all islands. As of 1997 there were 14,000 radios. Cook Islands Television broadcasts from Rarotonga, providing a mix of local news and overseas-sourced programs. As of 1997 there were 4,000 television sets.

Internet infrastructure and connectivity

History The internet was first set up in the Cook Islands in 1995 by Casinos of the South Pacific (also the first iGaming license in the country). Donald Wright and his nephew Darren Wright set up a 256K connection in Telecom Cook Islands facilities, connected to Telecom New Zealand. The Cook Islands is one of the birthplaces of the iGaming industry. There were 6,000 Internet users in 2009 and 3,562 Internet hosts as of 2012. The country code top-level domain for the Cook Islands is .ck. In June 2010, Telecom Cook Islands partnered with O3b Networks, Ltd. to provide faster Internet connection to the Cook Islands. On 25 June 2013 the O3b satellite constellation was launched from an Arianespace Soyuz ST-B rocket in French Guiana. The medium Earth orbit satellite orbits at 8,062 kilometres (5,009 mi) and uses the Ka band. It has a latency of about 100 milliseconds because it is much closer to Earth than standard geostationary satellites, whose latencies can be over 600 milliseconds. Although the initial launch consisted of 4 satellites, as many as 20 may be launched eventually to serve various areas with little or no optical fibre service, the first of which is the Cook Islands. In December 2015, Alcatel-Lucent and Bluesky Pacific Group announced that they would build the Moana Cable system connecting New Zealand to Hawaii with a single fibre pair branching off to the Cook Islands. The Moana Cable is expected to be completed in 2018.

Digital transformation As a small island digital state the Cook Islands faces a unique set of challenges in digital transformation, one being that it is heavily reliant on international support and cooperation to develop and fund its ICT improvement projects. Until 2019, Telecom Cook Islands was the sole provider for internet, mobile and fixed telephone communications for the country. Internet was provided via satellite which was costly to the government with an unreliable connection especially to the outer islands. The passing of the Competition and Regulatory Authority Act 2019 (CRA) and the Telecommunications Act 2019 provided the opportunity for new competitors to join the market. It also provides for subsidising the provision of telecommunications to areas or customer groups which cannot reasonably be served on a commercial basis. The passing of the CRA and Telecommunications acts paved the way for the Cook Islands Government to establish the state owned enterprise, Avaroa Cable Limited. This was made possible through the funding from New Zealand Aid Programme and the Asian Development Bank.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Telecommunications in the Cook Islands

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Telecommunications in the Cook Islands claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Telecommunications in the Cook Islands before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Telecommunications in the Cook Islands ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Telecommunications in the Cook Islands

In research: Telecommunications in the Cook Islands appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Telecommunications in the Cook Islands in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Telecommunications in the Cook Islands is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Communications in the Cook Islands, Telecommunications in Oceania, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Telecommunications in the Cook Islands outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Telecommunications in the Cook Islands in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Telecommunications in the Cook Islands means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Telecommunications in the Cook Islands out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Telecommunications in the Cook Islands in simple terms?

Why does Telecommunications in the Cook Islands matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Telecommunications in the Cook Islands?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Telecommunications in the Cook Islands.