The Antarctic is a battleground between many countries which stake a claim to its natural resources, but at least several of those governments are now investing in communications for the icy region. This week, two separate initiatives, backed by Australia and Uruguay respectively, were announced to extend cellular connectivity to people working in Antarctica. The Australian project has resulted in a self-contained GSM network being deployed on Macquarie Island, which is about halfway between the two territories, with plans to extend it to three research stations on the Antarctic mainland. The roll-out makes previous Australian deployments in climatically hostile environments, like its outback, look simple. The country’s Department of the Environment is using equipment from Range Networks, which has the…