With industry focus on WiMAX and LTE as key grid communication solutions, traditional UHF telemetry radio system technology has been considered the poor relation to broadband. The revitalisation and digital transformation of legacy ‘narrowband’ UHF radio is changing perspectives with the advantages of existing frequency re-use and scalability. Today, as the influence and control of the IT domain drives industrial control system and SCADA network design, capacity and security have become important criteria in successful utility networks. Additional capacity and IP connectivity is important in both water and electric utilities but many applications just don’t need the 1 to 3 Mbps considered entry-level broadband. Instead, modern high-capacity digital narrowband UHF networks now delivering 100 to 200 Kbps are able to address distribution automation and feeder protection challenges in the electricity network.