Extension of the FCO Telecommunications Network (FTN) to the British Overseas Territory of Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic brings modern, satellite-based communications to inhabitants of the island community, most of whom live by farming, the processing of lobster or crayfish, the administration of their island or working in the Island's growing tourism industry.

"Satellite-based communication is an ideal way for businesses and governments to provide remote locations with essential voice, data and video services and link those locations with the rest of an organization or even the entire world," said Patrick Brant, president of Loral Skynet.

"When satellite resources are seamlessly integrated with an existing terrestrial fiber telecommunications network, the resulting hybrid capabilities are highly efficient, remarkably cost-effective and virtually immune to costly interruptions or downtime."

Services to Tristan are being rolled out under Global Crossing's contract to manage the FCO's global communications infrastructure in 140 countries.

Phil Metcalf, managing director of Global Crossing UK, said, "Although the FCO network was essentially completed in 2004, we continue to extend the benefits of a globally managed IP VPN to the most remote corners of the world, overcoming challenges posed by location, technology and logistics. Our solution will allow Tristan's administration to share the benefits enjoyed by other posts on the network and make a dramatic difference to the day-to-day life of Islanders."

The provision of robust connections via the FTN network will greatly improve communications to the outside world for the Island's administration and the community at large. Providing communications to Tristan has never been easy. The early settlers relied on passing ships to exchange messages with friends and family overseas.

In 1938, members of the visiting Norwegian Scientific Expedition installed their own radio operator and two years later, the establishment of a Royal Navy signals station during the Second World War (HMS Atlantic Isle) led to the introduction of the first permanent radio station and post office.

Today, mail services via Cape Town in South Africa are subject to the schedule of passing fishing vessels and the vagaries of the weather. Tristan is situated 6,000 miles from the UK and 1,750 miles from southern Africa. Mail can be delayed for months and calls using either high-frequency links with Cape Town Radio or by satellite telephone are prohibitively expensive. Calls by radiophone are pound1.50 a minute and pound1.83 a minute by satphone.

Connection to the FCO network will greatly reduce the Island's dependence on costly, low-level communications and provide much improved Internet access. By being able to access the FTN, the Tristan da Cunha Government will be able to make calls and exchange e-mail via London at significantly reduced UK domestic and overseas rates.

Before the FTN installation, only five stand-alone email terminals were in use on Tristan. These served the Administrator for official communications with the Governor in St. Helena and the FCO in London; the Post and Telecommunications Department to send and receive messages on behalf of Islanders; and the doctor, the fish factory manager and the Natural Resources Department. Thanks to FTN, every member of the community will now have the opportunity to set up their own email address.

Global Crossing and Loral Skynet connected Tristan to the FTN through a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) and Loral Skynet's highly reliable SCPC-based Digital Link service, a private, clear-channel service that lets businesses and governments create instant network infrastructures to extend WANs to underserved locations.

Global Crossing also operates satellite earth stations in Canberra, Australia, and Hampshire in the UK to which 153 remote locations are connected worldwide, including other island nations like Tonga, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

In all, the FTN connects 233 sites in 140 countries, providing secure, high-speed voice, data and messaging services to more than 16,000 users. Sites on the managed IP VPN include 153 embassies and high commissions in capital cities, 10 missions to international organizations and conferences such as the UN, the EU and NATO, and 70 consulates or deputy high commissions outside capital cities.

The installation of the VSAT equipment used on Tristan posed unusual logistical challenges. The 3.7-metre VSAT dish and associated equipment was shipped via Cape Town, South Africa, and then sent aboard a fishing vessel for the 1,750 mile voyage to Tristan.

A Loral Skynet earth station engineer supervised the installation and commissioning, but due to the fishing vessel's schedule, the engineer had only seven days to perform the entire installation, which included set up and testing of all associated transceivers, modems and cabling, as well as a private branch exchange in the Administrator's office. The VSAT link will support 12 lines running at 256 Kbps, compared with the island's current satphone links of 64 Kbps.

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