In the US, a village without a cellular network resists the digital invasion

Living in a village without a cell phone network “has a purifying side,” says Yvonne Wallech, a resident of Green Bank, a small West Virginia town a four-hour drive from the capital of West Virginia. USA, Washington DC, which attracts those tired of always being connected.

Yvonne Wellech ten Internet at home, but as soon as you disconnect, the “dings”, “pings” and “rings” of calls or notifications from cell phones are over. “Clarify ideas,” said the 59-year-old woman who owns a souvenir shop.

The area has been home to the Green Bank Observatory for more than 60 years, which needs radio silence to be able to observe the stars and black holes.

For this reason, the government created a “zone of calm” in 1958, to protect the activities of the observatory and also those of a site of the NSA, the US military intelligence agency.

Radio waves are limited and restricted to an area of ​​almost 34,000 km2 in the Green Bank area and the use of Wi-Fi is discouraged.

The tourism office takes advantage of the situation and promotes the region as a realm of “ultimate digital detox.”

“In today’s world where you can’t go more than a minute without hearing an electronic device beep, this is the perfect place to get away from it all,” says Chelsea Ruby, West Virginia Secretary of Tourism, at the East of the country.

Sexy promise

An attractive promise at a time when 85% of American adults say they have a smartphone and nearly a third say they are online “most of the time”, according to a survey by the Pew Research Institute.

Nancy Showalter, a tourist who came to visit the observatory, was surprised to lose connection, although she quickly began to appreciate the silence.

“You look around you, you listen to others. It is wonderful. More people should do it, ”enthuses the 78-year-old retiree from Indiana, in the northern United States.

But despite its strange rules and isolation amid hills and forests, Green Bank, with fewer than 200 residents, is changing.

According to locals, wireless internet spread in recent years and there were not even penalties, despite the regulations imposing fines of US $ 50.

Along with hotel and restaurant construction, property prices in Pocahontas County, where Green Bank is located, have risen nearly three times faster than the national average over the past decade, according to estimates.

“Soon they will want a Walmart and other supermarket chains and all the things they are used to,” complains George Deike, a longtime resident, alluding to the arrival of new residents.

“I do not know if everyone has to be like this,” added this director of an equestrian center.

Dangers

However, other residents believe that the town should be modernized.

Patrick Coleman, who was born in Green Bank 69 years ago and owns an inn, believes the lack of phone coverage is dangerous.

“The people who live here are denied a safety net,” as an accident in this remote area could become very serious if help cannot be called, he said.

He does not understand why the neighboring ski resort, Snowshoe, has a cell phone network and Green Bank does not.

Some neighbors who settled in the town to enjoy the tranquility also relativize the importance of the regulations that govern the telephone waves.

“I came to find a quieter place, without Wi-Fi,” says Ned Dougherty, a 38-year-old teacher and new resident, who nonetheless indicates that there are other ways to regain control of your digital life.

“I am not required to use my phone, no matter where I live,” he says. “Changing my zip code doesn’t solve anything. If I want to log out, I have to do it myself. And I think we all know we should do it. “