Study Confirms Alarming Gap In Wireless Communications For Two W.Va. Counties

For decades, two West Virginia counties have had extremely limited access to wireless communications that first responders need in emergencies. Now, thanks to the results of a two-year federal study, a solution could be on the horizon. 

“The study’s needs analysis revealed that Pendleton County’s existing public safety radio infrastructure is delivering only about 47% mobile coverage from the vehicles and 49% portable radio coverage from handheld radios countywide, while in Pocahontas the study revealed that 71% mobile coverage exists and only 13% portable radio coverage,” said Rick Gillespie, Pendleton County Emergency Management coordinator. 

The problem began in 1958, when a National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ) was established to shield two federally important facilities from radio frequency interference: the Green Bank Observatory in Pocahontas County and the Sugar Grove Research Station in Pendleton County. 

The zone spans almost 13,000 square miles in West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland.  

At the request of U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency commissioned the study. Results released Wednesday confirm what Gillespie and other first responders have long known. Less than half of the two counties have access to mobile or portable radio coverage. The nationwide standard is 95% or higher. 

“A few years ago a trooper was shot in Pocahontas County and communications was horrible in getting him help,” Gillespie said. “I’ll transition to another real world instance, a lost person in an area where there’s no communications. You have to daisy chain people along the search route so that you can get communications back from that farthest person out, to get that communications back to the command post or whatever. So, it creates a situation that unfortunately we’ve become accustomed to dealing with.”  

Rugged terrain doesn’t help. Such limited coverage puts emergency officials and the public in much greater jeopardy, Gillespie said. The study provides hard numbers to back up the need for a change. 

“So now we think we have that federal study that shows that yes, we do in fact have a problem and yes, it needs federal help to solve it,” he said. 

“The findings of the two-year communications study provide clear evidence that these gaps exist throughout our region and reinforce the need for them to be addressed as soon as possible,” Pocahontas County 911/EM Director Ben Brown said. “In today’s world, reliable communication is not simply a convenience—it is a lifeline for our citizens and the first responders who serve them.” 

Federal officials are considering a range of recommendations from the study, including expanded, dual-band radio frequencies, relaxed restrictions on some frequencies and additional radio towers. They are expected to present a path forward by year’s end.