Avanti Communications has announced that the contract for its EU-funded Satellite communications in Support of Transport on European Roads (SISTER) project has been extended.

Under the terms of the deal, which is worth €250,000 (£227,070), the satellite broadband provider will continue work to test new technologies developed to provider services to the road transport sector.

The company is working with a range of partners on the project, which commenced in November 2006, including Volvo, Navteq and Efkon.

David Williams, Chief Executive of Avanti, said: "Projects like SISTER drive forward new applications for the HYLAS capacity over and above simple broadband and give rise to our growing confidence in the speed of uptake."

Last week, Avanti signed a €663,000 contract with Spain's Satconxion for broadband services on the HYLAS 1 satellite, which will launch in 2010.

Avanti hopes that the deal will see its services made available to a number of businesses across the country.