Players should have a randomized chance (25%) to spawn with a walkie talkie + 9v battery, in order to promote this mechanic. This feature has been completely forgotten and is effectively "dead" because it has not received any love or attention from the team.
A great example is how the official "introduction" / tutorial video for DayZ shows new player obtaining a fully functioning radio from a dead freshspawn on the coast. Why can't this be a feature in the game? If the very first 30 seconds of your tutorial shows a new player obtaining a radio, why can't you do the same on official servers? Imagine how many interactions this could generate. And my value of 25% is to reflect that this a randomized chance, not a 100% guarantee. If 20 people spawn in a village, 5 of them can spawn w/ a walkie talkie. DayZ is an incredibly dynamic game, and every time you join a server, your experience is never the same! That is the beauty of DayZ!
Walkie talkies only have a 5km range, so it's incredibly rare to find other people on any frequency. I've been playing the game since 2014, and I've only heard around 4-5 people on the radio in my 10 years of playing. DayZ seriously needs to promote these items more because It can give solo players a safe means to team up with randoms! So many cool interactions and even friendships could be made by doing this! It's sad that features like the field transceiver and zenit radio station are also never used.