Building resilience in an era of compounding threats

How SGN is future-proofing critical national infrastructure with Arqiva Managed Connectivity.

When disruption becomes the norm As Storm Eunice tore across the UK in February 2022, winds of more than 120mph brought down power lines, damaged substations and left more than a million homes without electricity. Mobile masts lost power, fixed-line infrastructure was severed, and in many areas the loss of communications compounded the challenge of restoring energy supplies. Just months later, record summer heat pushed parts of the energy system to its limits, while flooding from Storm Babet submerged infrastructure and disrupted access to critical sites.

These events were not isolated incidents. They were warnings.

Across the UK, extreme weather is becoming more frequent, more severe and more disruptive, placing unprecedented strain on energy networks and the communications systems they depend on. When power fails, connectivity is often one of the first casualties. When connectivity is lost, operators can lose visibility and control of the very assets they need to manage safely.

More recently, the sector has been reminded that disruption does not need to originate on British soil to have a direct impact on UK critical infrastructure. Incidents affecting gas distribution network operators highlighted the risks associated with overseas-issued SIM cards embedded within operational devices. In particular, the use of non-UK mobile profiles exposed parts of the network to service degradation and loss of control driven by factors entirely outside UK operational, regulatory or commercial influence.

These events underlined how interconnected modern infrastructure has become, and how international dependencies can introduce hidden vulnerabilities.

When safety-critical connectivity relies on overseas mobile cores, international signalling routes or foreign governance regimes, operators inherit risks they did not design and cannot easily mitigate. In this context, resilience is no longer just about redundancy, it is about sovereignty, control and assurance across the entire supply chain.

At the same time, a less visible but equally serious threat is growing. Cyber attacks linked to hostile state actors have increasingly targeted energy networks across Europe, exploiting the digital control systems that underpin modern utilities. In recent years, cyber operations have been used not just to steal data, but to deliberately disrupt power and gas networks, removing situational awareness at critical moments and demonstrating how digital compromise can translate into physical impact.

For the UK energy sector, the lesson is clear. The risks facing critical national infrastructure are now compounding and converging. Atmospheric disruption, physical damage, supply-chain fragility and cyber intrusion can occur simultaneously, amplifying their impact and extending recovery times. In this environment, resilience is no longer defined solely by the strength of pipes, wires or plant; it is defined by the security, diversity, sovereignty and availability of the connectivity that binds the system together.

For operators like SGN, whose networks must remain safe, visible and controllable in all conditions, preparing for this reality is not optional. It is fundamental to public safety, regulatory confidence and the UK's transition to a net-zero energy system.

Background: connectivity as a safety-critical dependency SGN manages the gas distribution network serving around six million homes and businesses across Scotland and southern England. As a critical national infrastructure operator, its responsibilities are uncompromising: protect public safety, maintain regulatory compliance, and ensure the continuous, secure operation of a vast, geographically dispersed asset base.

Alongside these responsibilities, SGN is playing a central role in the UK's transition to net zero. Working with government and industry partners, it is helping develop the world's first zero-carbon gas grid preparing for a future in which biomethane and hydrogen operate alongside natural gas in increasingly regionalised networks.

Delivering this safely depends on the continuous flow of trusted data between thousands of field assets and SGN's central control systems. Connectivity failures are not simply inconvenient; they pose direct risks to safety, compliance and customer confidence. That reality has shaped SGN's approach to communications for more than a decade.

A partnership built for disruption, not just performance SGN first began working with Arqiva in 2011, seeking a connectivity partner capable of operating under the most demanding conditions. From the outset, the focus was on resilience, independence and security, not lowest-cost connectivity.

The initial deployment was based on highly secure VSAT satellite links, selected for their ability to operate independently of terrestrial infrastructure and to continue functioning during severe weather or localised outages. As operational demands increased, this was expanded to include LTE mobile connectivity and BGAN satellite services, ensuring coverage across urban, rural and hard-to-reach locations.

As SGN's digital transformation accelerated, so too did the pressures on its connectivity estate. Rising cyber and physical security threats, tighter regulatory oversight, increased digitalisation and the growing use of advanced analytics and AI all drove the need for a more integrated, future-proof approach, one capable of withstanding not just individual failures, but systemic disruption.

Solution: managed connectivity designed for a hostile world In 2024, SGN selected Arqiva to deploy its fully Managed Connectivity service across 383 sites in England and Scotland. The objective was not simply to upgrade individual links, but to create a unified, resilient and secure

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