MS WIRELESS COMMUNICATION COMMISSION BUILDS NEW COMMUNICATIONS TOWER

Alex Bonin - WRJW News Intern

The Mississippi Wireless Communication Commission (MSWCC) announced that its new Poplarville South MSWIN tower site was completed and became fully operational on May 8, 2025.

The site was built to solve the ongoing issue of radio dead zones within Pearl River County. This issue has affected many emergency service workers over the years. Poplarville Police Chief Chad Dorn shared his thoughts on how this tower benefits law enforcement.

“In Poplarville, we’ve had some dead areas where officers know not to go because they won’t have radio contact and it has helped them in those areas,” said Dorn. “None of their cars have in-car radios, they all use portable radios which aren't as powerful. The location of this tower allows officers to have a lot more radio coverage and helps them tremendously."

Being that Pearl River County is the fourth-largest county by landmass in the state, there were several communication gaps due to tower locations.

County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin believes the geographical placement of this tower will be key to its success.

“This is the fourth tower that’s actually in the county.  We have one in Hillsdale, one out at Crossroads, one at Pine Grove, and the other one is actually in Hancock County,” said Lumpkin.

“That left a huge hole in the center of the county, and I hope this is going to eliminate it and I feel certain it will give us a lot of extra coverage.”

State Senator for District 40, Angela Hill, expressed concern for the issues brought upon the county by these communication gaps, as well as enthusiasm for the benefits this project brings. Hill was not only able to bring attention to this issue within Pearl River County, but also in counties across Mississippi.

“I felt like it was a win-win for a lot of people, and for public safety because there were quite a number of counties,” said Senator Hill. “Pearl River County just happened to have their name at the top of the list but we funded those other counties too, so that they would be able to talk and not have these problems in an emergency situation where they couldn’t communicate.”

The $2.2 million tower site was fully funded by the state legislature. Hill played a central role in securing that funding. Gaining legislative support was a major contribution made by Hill, who believes that it was a “no brainer” to fund the project, as MSWIN plans to lease the tower out — eventually allowing the project to generate revenue.

“Carey Meitzler was extremely instrumental in this because I had to have somebody educate me enough in order to be able to make it happen on the state level,” said Senator Hill.

“They’re (MSWIN) going to lease space on this tower, and after a while, it’s going to pay for itself. It was a no-brainer to fund this.”

Karana Carroll, executive director of MSWCC, expressed her appreciation for Hill’s efforts and the legislature’s support. The 400-foot tower, which operates a Land Mobile Radio (LMR) system, is owned by the state and was originally built in 2013. State funding has allowed for expansion of the network and its coverage.

“Senator Hill, when she’s on the Senate floor or anywhere, she represents you well,” said Carroll. “We have 97% mobile coverage across the state, and if you have a radio you’re one of over 66,000 subscribers who use this system.”

The plans are in place to lease the system to non-government organizations. While some may question the system’s capacity, Dent Guynes, MSWIN system administrator, is confident in its ability to support growth.

“As stated, we have 66,000 users on here now, but we have the capacity. The system will handle up to 250,000,” said Guynes.

While the location of the tower is public information, it falls under homeland security rules, and it is important that the exact coordinates remain concealed for public safety reasons.

“If you interfere with this transmission, you interfere with all of your law enforcement,” said Carroll.

The Motorola-built system is designed to support a wide variety of radio communications. It is one of 160 communication sites that host local, state, federal, tribal and non-government organizations.

“We have 97% mobile coverage across the state, and if you have a radio you’re one of the subscribers who use this system across the state,” said Carroll. “We are not just a system for some county or a few people, it’s across the entire state.”

What makes the MSWIN system stand out from others is its use of point-to-point microwaves. While many believe fiber is the preferred option for building such sites, microwave technology has proven to be more reliable for signal transport.

“What we have that’s unique about us is we use microwave. The point-to-point microwave is how you actually transport the commuications from this site to the next site to the next site.”

Dent Guynes (back) explains the equipment to Senator Hill, Board of Supervisors President Malcolm Perry, and Pearl River County Sheriff Operations Director Rob Williams.

One of the most impressive aspects of MS WCC's new site is its availability. The building is concrete-reinforced and built to last. It will be there for day-to-day communication, regardless of the situation. In terms of electrical resilience, the building is equipped with both a generator and a UPS that can run up to four hours.

“It’s what we call a hardened site so that it's here for that next hurricane,” said Carroll. “There’s so much that this system can be used for. It's not just here for the bad weather, it's here for everyday communication.”

In the short time the system has been operational, it has received significant positive feedback. Carey Meitzler, director of information technology services and e911 dispatch , shared compliments he’s received from local patrol officers.

“Just yesterday in dispatch two patrol officers came through and stuck their heads in the officer and said ‘Tower’s great, we already see a difference,’” said Meitzler. “And it was just that quick, I mean you’re already hearing great feedback.”

“Additionally, we all would like to thank Bill Buffington (retired former MSWIN) and Senator Scott Delano (District 50) for their diligence in making this happen.  Bill and I spent many hours discussing this tower and the location.   Senator Delano is a strong voice for public safety,” Meitzler added.