I was to Fiji, and some of the islands had internet. One of them had a satellite connection, and apparently it was good enough for Skyping (I talked to someone having their job interview with a company in Singapore, it seemed to work great) - so there's your solution. They also put a cell phone tower on the highest island so most places actually have mobile signal. (About three mobiles per village, but hey!)
The only problem is electricity, no power grid. They use generators, for a few hours in the evening.
What islands did your friend go to?