A SCADA communication apparatus is made up of a set of modules, a first one of which is adapted for communication with a remote terminal unit (RTU), a second one of which is adapted for communication with a communications transceiver, and a third one of which is adapted for routing messages between and to physically house the first and second ones of the modules. Optionally, encryption and/or data compression can be provided by the operating system associated with the communication apparatus; or, these features may be provided in the form of application programs.