A NASA long duration balloon is prepared for launch on Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf near McMurdo Station in 2004. (NASA photo)
CIMSEC provides a discussion of the possibility of using high altitude balloons as communications links in the Arctic.
Even if balloons are not the answer, the article at least does an excellent job of outlining the difficulties of communicating in the Arctic (or Antarctic).
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 
Completely agree that this article does a good job of describing the difficulties of Artic communications. The Coast Guard has almost no fixed (VHF/UHF towers) communications north of the Aleutian Islands so it will interesting to see if they take this approach. It may be a bit before that happens because I know that the Coast Guard has its hands full repairing the communication infrastructure (Towers, generators, etc.) along the coastline around Juneau, Anchorage, and Kodiak.