MSWIN usage surged during Winter Storm Fern; MDOT District 2 praises system reliability

Jackson, Miss. — At its March 5 meeting, the Mississippi Wireless Communication Commission heard a monthly staff report showing elevated MSWIN use in February and heard testimony from Mississippi Department of Transportation District 2 on the system’s role during Winter Storm Fern.

MSWIN staff member Karana Carroll presented the February MSWIN Staff Report, reporting 68,958 radio IDs on the system, approximately 11.1 million push‑to‑talks for the month, and 273 busies. Carroll highlighted site maintenance and equipment repairs, highest generator run times at MSWIN sites during Winter Storm Fern, top agency and local user lists for system activity, ongoing asset management at WCC tower sites, co‑location work with contractors, outreach and radio training, and the loan of cache radios to state and local agencies.

Richard Kappenman, Equipment and Fleet Manager for MDOT District 2, told the commission that his district — which covers 17 counties and 5,537 miles of roads — relies on MSWIN for reliable communications. “MSWIN is superior to all the other systems,” Kappenman said. He described District 2’s MSWIN deployment as eight base stations, 12 portable radios and 173 mobile radios in work trucks and snowplows, and said the radios enabled supervisors to talk directly with individual trucks across areas without cellular coverage during Winter Storm Fern. Kappenman added that out‑of‑district drivers who assisted during the storm used MSWIN to navigate unfamiliar roads.

Carroll and Kappenman framed the report as operational and technical: Carroll summarized system statistics and staff activities and Kappenman provided a user perspective on how the network performed during a major weather event. The commission did not take formal action on the staff report at the meeting.

The commission announced its next meeting for 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 2, 2026, at the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks.