Loral Skynet teamed with Global Crossing, a provider of terrestrial-based telecommunications services, to extend the communications network of the British Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office to its most remote island community, Tristan da Cunha, Loral Skynet announced Aug. 31.

Extension of the network to the overseas territory of Tristan da Cunha, which lies about 6,000 miles from the United Kingdom and 1,750 miles from South Africa in the South Atlantic, brings modern, satellite-based communications to the archipelago’s inhabitants, most of whom live by farming, lobster-fishing and crayfishing, island administration or tourism.

Connection to the network is expected to reduce the dependence on costly, low-level communications and provide much improved Internet access. Services to Tristan are being rolled out under Global Crossing’s contract to manage the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s global communications infrastructure in 140 countries.