75 Years Strong

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to 2026. This is the first episode of the Local Clique for this year. And on this month's episode we'll have Louis Jack Medley with DTC Communications. He'll tell us all about the things that he likes to do to help the customers out here as well as we'll have the CEO of DTC Communications, Mr. Casey Krueger will be here to explain about a great celebration that is going on this year. Stay tuned. [00:00:24] Speaker B: Learn more about fun local events and interesting people throughout the heart of Middle Tennessee. With a dash of everyday tech thrown in for good measure. The Local Click starts now. [00:00:37] Speaker A: Welcome everybody to the Local Click. The Local Click is the technology based podcast brought to you by DTC Communications each and every month where we talk all things technology and local people. And returning Again this month, Mr. Justin Malden, my co host. How are you doing today, Justin? [00:00:55] Speaker C: I'm doing very well. How are you this morning, Nick? [00:00:57] Speaker A: I'm doing great, doing great. Are you ready for 2026? [00:00:59] Speaker C: I don't know if I'm ready, but it's here so I don't have any other choice. [00:01:03] Speaker A: It really doesn't if we're ready or not, does it? It's going to be an interesting year, I think. I think it's going to be a good year. I know we've got a lot of neat things in store for DTC for the year of 2026, and we'll talk about a little bit of that as the show goes on. But as far as your plans, do you have anything interesting or different that you're planning on for the year of 2026 that you can think of? [00:01:28] Speaker C: Listen, I'm living the dream like I always do each and every year, so. So I'm sure I'm like most people at the beginning of the year you have some New Year's resolutions and some things that you plan on doing. I don't know if I'll stick to them or not, but I'm planning to. But that's at least the plan and we'll see how that plan goes if it comes to fruition or if I veer off of that path. [00:01:52] Speaker A: That was kind of one of the questions I had was are you a New Year's resolution kind of person? [00:01:56] Speaker C: I think I am. I think probably like a lot of people, I guess it's just a year to reevaluate, right? I mean, it's a good time to reevaluate. I think there's always room for self improvement. There's always room to try to Be more positive, improve things. And I think, you know, this time of the year lends itself to that. How successful will people be is always the question. But I don't think that there is anything negative about trying to be better, whether it's during the new year or some other time. What about yourself? Do you have anything planned out? [00:02:28] Speaker A: You know, what I've learned about myself over the years is I'm probably better off not making a resolution if it's something I really want to accomplish. I think when I. The minute I try to make that a goal, it seems like I sabotage it. So I think I'm better off just to go for it unspoken instead of trying to make a big deal out of it. Seems like I'm more successful that way. I'm probably not the only one out there too, that's probably like that. [00:02:51] Speaker C: So fly by the seat of your pants. Yeah. Type of mentality. I like it. [00:02:55] Speaker A: Yeah. I think. I think I'm more successful that way. So. [00:02:58] Speaker C: To eat. To each their own. [00:03:00] Speaker A: That's right. [00:03:00] Speaker C: If you can get to. If you can get to that end goal, that's the most important thing. [00:03:05] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. [00:03:06] Speaker C: That's right. [00:03:07] Speaker A: As far as 2026 goes, and we're going to talk about some of this with DTC and things going on, but we're celebrating 75 years for the year of 2026 and we've got a lot of exciting things in store as a company for this year. Are you excited to kind of see kind of us tell our story and where we've came from and where we're going? [00:03:28] Speaker C: I think it's very interesting. I think what you start getting to these kind of numbers as far as the age of the co OP is at 75 years for somebody like me who is not as old as you. How about that? Yeah, you know, I obviously was nowhere near around when a group of people decided, hey, we need to do something. [00:03:53] Speaker A: Well, for the record, I wasn't around 75 years old. [00:03:57] Speaker C: I mean, just. You were closer than I was. [00:04:02] Speaker A: I can't argue that. [00:04:04] Speaker C: But you know, to think of the power of what was accomplished because a group of people came together, saw a need that the community had and had the initiative to do something about it. What it has grown into and the impact over 75 years that DTC Communications has had and I think it's going to be wonderful to get that story out there to celebrate the things that have happened and you know, to share some things with the community and get the community involved as well and that's. [00:04:34] Speaker A: Honestly, I think something that sets us apart in a lot of ways is there's not many businesses out there that can say they've been around that long and are still alive and kicking and growing and prospering and still helping our customers and still there for them. So. [00:04:50] Speaker C: Well, the thing at DTC Communications wouldn't be where it was if it wasn't for our members and our customers. [00:04:54] Speaker A: That's exactly right. [00:04:55] Speaker C: We're here because of them. [00:04:56] Speaker A: Yeah. Yep. It's a great relationship between us and our members, for sure. So. But everyone just kind of stay tuned. It's going to be a fun show. Coming up in just a few moments, we'll be speaking actually with two people from DTC in this month's episode. Later on will be Mr. Louis Jack Medley, who is the construction coordinator here at dtc. He'll be telling us about some of the different things he's seen throughout the years here at DTC and what his current job title entails and the kind of things that he works on every day to try to help our customers have great service. But first, we're going to welcome the CEO of DTC Communications to the program, Mr. Casey Krueger. And for this segment of the local clique, we are very lucky to have the CEO of DTC Communications, Mr. Casey Krueger. Hello. How are you doing today? [00:05:46] Speaker D: Doing great. Thanks for having me again. I appreciate it. [00:05:48] Speaker A: We're so glad to have you back. Obviously we didn't scare you off too bad the last. [00:05:54] Speaker D: Pretty painless. [00:05:55] Speaker A: It's not too bad. [00:05:56] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:05:57] Speaker A: The last time you were here with us was back in June of 2025. And I know you and your family haven't really been in Tennessee life yet that long at that moment in the year. So are you guys starting to get settled in? We are sort of thing. [00:06:13] Speaker D: We are. I can't believe it's already December, but I started in April and we got our house bought and got moved in at the end of June. So it's been six months already. And we've really enjoyed our time here and really enjoying Tennessee, the people. And we've really kind of gotten to a groove. And the kids have been in school and every. Everybody's just doing really well. [00:06:32] Speaker A: So I bet the time has flown by. [00:06:33] Speaker D: It has. Time flies when you're having fun. [00:06:35] Speaker A: That's right. That's right. Well, we're glad to have you here in Tennessee. And you know, the year 2026 for DTC is a very special one that a lot of businesses really don't get to celebrate. It's the 75th anniversary. [00:06:48] Speaker D: It is the 75th anniversary for DTC Communications. So we were founded on July 29, 19, 1951. So 2026 marks our 75th year anniversary. You know, that's a pretty big deal. That's something that, that any business would strive for and not many businesses reach. So. But before we get into it, I wanted to take a step back. Let's take a step back and look at what 1951, or let's just say the 1950s looks like. But you take a step back and we're, we're in a World War II, post war boom. The Korean War is going on, the Cold War is happening. It's the start of the space race. The civil rights movement is happening. So there's still segregation in the United States at this point. The DTC was founded. Television was becoming a thing. It was something that the average household could start to afford. It was still in black and white. But then you have, like, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe becoming popular. The average U.S. home price was about $9,000 and a gallon of gas costs 27 cents. So 75 years just kind of wanted to set the stage. It was a long time ago and the world has changed. Technology has obviously changed. But it's an anniversary we're very proud of. [00:07:59] Speaker A: So tell us about the importance of telephone cooperatives historically and specifically how it relates to DeKalb Telephone Cooperative. [00:08:06] Speaker D: Sure. So the question is, why are telephone cooperatives even around? And that is essentially because there's these large swaths of rural areas where your large corporations wouldn't serve. They don't want to serve, and they wouldn't serve. So groups of farmers, ranchers, business owners, citizens all got together and said, hey, we need telephone service out here and we can do it. Over the years, we've grown and continue to grow and innovate and meet the needs of our cooperative members. So we started from there, where it was just an idea, and said, hey, we can string some wire and we can do some telephone service. And today, you know, we have a state of the art fiber optic network where we pass over 36,000 homes and businesses and serve over 1100 square miles. Pretty impressive in a lot of ways. [00:08:53] Speaker A: If people didn't really step up in that moment of need so many, many, many years ago, we wouldn't be where we are today. [00:09:01] Speaker D: We wouldn't be where we are. You know, for a long time, somebody may have came and served Middle Tennessee, but it would have been unserved without the cooperative Members and the cooperative founders stepping up and, and just making it happen. Yeah, you know, you look back at, you know, back in the 50s, people just made it happen and that's what they did. [00:09:18] Speaker A: I love that spirit, that work spirit that they had. So what do you think those original board members of DeKalb Telephone Cooperative would think about how far things have come since 1951? [00:09:30] Speaker D: I think the, the key to all that. Would they be proud? They would be so proud, you know, proud that we continued their mission, Proud that we've continued to grow, Proud that the membership has continued to support the mission. Proud of the network that we've built and stayed up on and continue to innovate on. Proud of DTC continuing to meet the needs of our members and our customers in middle Tennessee. You know, our founders built the telephone cooperative, but what they really built was a cooperative that continues to meet the needs of the members. You know, whether that be telephone Service of the 1950s, DSL Service of the 1990s and 2000s, or today, you know, state of the art fiber optic network offering multi gig services over whole and with whole home wi fi solutions. You know, I think they'd just be proud that we continue to innovate and continue to meet the needs of our members. [00:10:20] Speaker A: So what would you say are some of the biggest changes as far as like product offerings in DTC land from the beginning to where we are today? [00:10:28] Speaker D: Sure, sure. So, so let's take another step back of what telephone service looked like in the 1950s. So we had ro rotary phones. So, you know, Rotary, you know, you had to dial, you know, we weren't around. But I played with those when I was a kid. You know, I think if you put those in front of a 16 year old kid today and said, hey, dial my cell phone number, here it is. I don't think they'd have any. [00:10:48] Speaker A: You get a blank stare. Yeah. [00:10:50] Speaker D: And then we also had party lines. So for those of you watching that, that may not know what a party line is. It's, it's a, it's a foreign concept these days. But you know, there was a. Say you lived out in a holler and there was eight houses in there, all of you shared the same line. So if I, if I was on the phone, but my neighbor across the way wanted to use the phone, they would pick it up and say, hey, can I use the phone? And you all shared the same line. So you just hope that the town gossip wasn't on your same line. I guess going from that to today, we are Offering cutting edge services over a fiber optic connection that moves at the speed of light? Yeah, it's just kind of crazy to, to know how far it's advanced and you know, but we just continue to meet the needs of our customers and continue to serve Middle Tennessee with the latest and greatest technologies. [00:11:38] Speaker A: That's right. How important are the cooperative members in keeping this vision of DTC going all these years? [00:11:45] Speaker D: Our members are the heart of our purpose. That's why we come to work every day. That's why we turn the lights on. Without our members, DTC would lose its purpose. That's why we are here. We are here to serve our membership and we're here to provide them with services that they need and they want across Middle Tennessee. [00:12:03] Speaker A: What would you say are some of the main differences between DTC and the products and services that we offer and some of our competitors? [00:12:11] Speaker D: Sure. You know, obviously we could talk about the network. We're 100% fiber optic network from right where we connect to the Internet all the way to your front door, which. [00:12:19] Speaker A: Is a big deal. [00:12:19] Speaker D: That is a big deal. You know, some of our larger competitors may say words like fiber powered or something like that, but they don't have a fiber network that goes all the way to your door. So, you know, we're offering those cutting edge services that are, that are world class, you know, and it's important to, to serve Middle Tennessee with those world class services. Customer support is second to none. You know, our technicians are top notch. Our call center is top notch. Our CXRs are touch. I've been nothing but impressed with them and, and the dedication that they bring to, to work every day and helping our customers and our members. Community support. From a community support standpoint, you know, our goal is to support the communities as much as we possibly can. You know, without advanced telecommunications services in some of our communities, where would those communities be today? So supporting them from a network standpoint, but also supporting them from, you know, donations to nonprofits, helping the schools, helping other businesses, you know, just making sure our communities are taken care of and they're thriving. But I think the other thing that sets us apart is as a cooperative member, you're an owner of dtc, so it's something we really don't talk about a whole lot. But as a cooperative member, you own a share of the organization. [00:13:29] Speaker A: That's true. [00:13:29] Speaker D: And you have voting rights. You're allocated capital credits from any profits that we receive or that we earn on a yearly basis. So those profits are allocated back to you as a Member in Woodbury, Tennessee or Smithville, Tennessee, over profits going back to some faraway shareholder in California or New York City. We're making sure our members are being taken care of. Right here in Middle Tennessee. [00:13:52] Speaker A: Do you feel like there's a, a sense of trust maybe that our customers have when they do business with us here at DTC just because we've been here for so many years? [00:14:03] Speaker D: I think so, you know, and I think a big thing is, you know, our employees live here, we work here, we play here. I mean, this is our community too. So when we come to work every day, you know, we want to make sure that, that our friends and our neighbors are being taken care of, but also that our communities are being taken care of. You know, I think there's a sense of trust when working with a cooperative and with working with somebody that's just been in the area for 75 years. You know, you see other companies come and go and change ownership and you know, change corporate structure and change names and all that good stuff. But right here, middle Tennessee, 75 years. [00:14:39] Speaker A: I like how, you know, a lot of things have changed for DTC over 75 years, but it's those solid core foundations really regardless of what kind of technology we've transitioned into over all those years, that same fundamental self of service that we have, it just seems like that never changes. [00:14:59] Speaker D: And over my first eight months, I've been. You mentioned self of service. I've just been really impressed with our employees and our crews that, that they really have that self serve, that spirit of service. Yeah, and I've been really impressed by that. [00:15:12] Speaker A: Do you have any special celebrations or activities in store for celebrating this big milestone? [00:15:17] Speaker D: Absolutely. We spent the last probably six months planning some things. [00:15:20] Speaker A: Ok. [00:15:21] Speaker D: I don't know if we're ready to fully announce him yet, but you know, as we've talked previously over the last couple minutes, this is a big deal. So we're going to make it a big deal and we're going to have some celebrations. We're going to come around to our various communities and have some celebrations, customer appreciation events, we'll call them and then we'll also do, you know, I mentioned that June 29, 1951 was our founding day. So that week we'll have a bunch of events going on that week. You'll see a lot of giveaways and prizes going out and just really looking forward to celebrating the 75th and make it a fun deal, but you know, making it about our members as well because they're the reason that we're here. [00:16:00] Speaker A: So where should people go to keep in the loop about all these great, exciting things going on? [00:16:04] Speaker D: Probably the best place, social media. You know, we're posting on there on a regular basis. You know, Facebook, Instagram, we will have some information on our website. We may send out some flyers. But social media is probably your best bet to stay up to date on the latest and greatest and. And what's going on. [00:16:16] Speaker A: So I have one more question for you before you leave us in this interview today, and it's a pretty big one, so don't want to put you on the spot, but what direction do you see the next 75 years going for DTC? [00:16:30] Speaker D: You know, we took a look back at 1951, right? And I don't think our founders would have any clue what fiber optic was and, you know, back then, and they would be so amazed at how far we've come. So I don't think I could Predict, you know, 75 years from 20, 26 is 2,101. So I can't predict what's going to be happening in 2101. But the one thing I can guarantee is that DTC will be here. We will continue to innovate. We'll continue to meet the needs of our members and continue to serve our members the best we can. [00:17:00] Speaker A: Well, Casey, thank you so much for joining us today and thank you for everything that you do to help us bring this mission forward and keep the dream alive for so many of our customers. [00:17:10] Speaker D: Absolutely excited to be here and thank you for having me. [00:17:13] Speaker A: Everybody stay tuned. We've got more of the program coming up in just a moment. [00:17:17] Speaker C: Ooh, I'll get it. Grandpa. Grandpa. [00:17:20] Speaker D: Yay. [00:17:21] Speaker E: Wanna play my new game with me? [00:17:22] Speaker A: Well, sure, I'd love to play your new game. [00:17:27] Speaker C: Let's go. [00:17:28] Speaker F: Gotcha. [00:17:30] Speaker C: What do I help? Give me a no. I'm gonna catch you. [00:17:37] Speaker A: I'm gonna catch you this time. [00:17:40] Speaker C: Sharing memories while staying connected. DTC Internet makes it all possible. [00:17:46] Speaker E: My name is Ashley Roth. My husband Caleb and I own stain and seal experts based in Alexandria. And we are a DTC customer. Caleb grew up in the fence industry. So when we got married and wanted to do something on our own, it made sense for us to start staining fences and manufacturing fence and deck and log cabin stains. We manufacture our own stains that check all the boxes for us that we offer to our customers here locally as well as nationwide that buy our products. DTC services all of our phone systems. We also have their fiber Internet for our phone system to work is instrumental for us. We rely heavily on our Internet and phone services from dtc. It means a lot to us that they're local, but they've always been local, and that we're able to support them and their services give us what we need to support our customers. Hi, I'm Ashley, and that's the DTC difference. [00:18:50] Speaker A: Welcome back to the show, everyone. Let's give the microphone over to Justin Malden as we do each and every month as he shares some of those technology tidbits with us in his segment we like to call Justin's Tech Tips. [00:19:02] Speaker C: So, Nick, I'm going to ask a question to lead off this segment. [00:19:06] Speaker A: Okay. [00:19:06] Speaker C: Did you receive any phone calls yesterday from people that you didn't know? [00:19:13] Speaker A: Not that I think that I can. [00:19:15] Speaker C: How about the past week? [00:19:15] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, definitely. [00:19:16] Speaker C: Okay. [00:19:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:18] Speaker C: Did you receive any phone calls about your car's extended warranty? [00:19:22] Speaker A: No, but I have in the past, for sure. Plenty of times. [00:19:25] Speaker C: Anybody trying to sell you anything or. Or potentially did you receive a phone call from somebody pretending to be maybe your financial institution or something else? [00:19:35] Speaker A: I received plenty of telemarketing calls, yes. There's no doubt about that. [00:19:39] Speaker C: So in 2026, unfortunately, we have a lot of spam and unwanted calls. [00:19:48] Speaker A: I think that's an understatement. [00:19:49] Speaker C: Yes, I mean, we have a ton. But thankfully our phones have now started to get smarter and oftentimes they're smarter than the spam calls themselves. And so I want to talk a little bit about how you can utilize your smartphone to reduce the amount of spam calls, or in some cases, maybe eliminate a lot of them even better. And so you've got these tools already within your pocket. If you've got a smartphone built into those, it doesn't matter if you're using Android, it doesn't matter if you're using iOS. Now, I will preface it with, you need to be updated to the newest version. So iOS 26 has been out since September and Android 16 has also been out a few months. You need to be on either one of these before you will see the full functions of this. You will see some things. [00:20:39] Speaker A: That's the point. You won't be able to find these settings if you're not updated. [00:20:43] Speaker C: Right? Yes. So be updated. So the first thing before we go any further is make sure your device is updated to the newest software. [00:20:49] Speaker A: Right. [00:20:50] Speaker C: So check it first because these are built in tools that I'm about to talk about, so you don't have to download another app or anything for this first part. Okay. It is built into the system, so check, make sure that you're updated. Now, if you were updated inside your phone settings for both iOS and Android, you have a very neat feature that will show up now. And it's worded a little bit differently. For iOS it is screen unknown callers is what it's called. That's what it's called now. It used to, it used to be worded a little differently, but that's what it's called. And then under Android it's just called call screen. So they're worded almost the same. Now what these will do is they will take. If you have somebody that calls you, they're not in your contacts, they're not somebody that you've messaged before, it's not somebody you've called before, it will use artificial intelligence, going to use AI, imagine that, to check to make sure that you haven't had contact with them. So used to be it was just if they weren't in your contacts. Now if you allow it to, it will check your other. It'll make sure you haven't had any sort of communication, you haven't called them, message with them, that kind of of thing. And it will give you options. Do you want to send that straight to voicemail and just disregard it? I don't even want my phone to ring. Just go straight to voicemail and then your phone will let you know after the fact, hey, you had somebody call you and called you and they left a voice message. Or you have another option where you can screen the call. And this is personally what I use. And it's great because I can tell you my phone doesn't ring and I'm not getting blown up with messages and, or voicemails because what happens is, is whoever is calling you, it will tell them, hey, please state your name and why you're calling. [00:22:34] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:22:35] Speaker C: And they have to tell you who it is I'm calling, my name is so and so and I am calling for X reason. And then it will give you the ability to, it will transcribe it so you can see it on your phone. You don't have to actually listen to it or you can listen to it and it will place that caller in a hold queue. So they'll state this. Your phone won't. Your, your phone won't ring still. It'll place them in a hold queue and give you the option to review and say, do you want to answer it or not? If they don't say anything or leave anything, then you don't have to pick it up. [00:23:06] Speaker A: Okay. [00:23:06] Speaker C: Or oftentimes what happens with me, they just hang up. Said it, it ends the call right there. [00:23:11] Speaker A: There's, there's no, they don't want to waste any time. [00:23:14] Speaker C: There's no. Yeah, there's no pushing through. It goes ahead and, and it cuts it off right there. And so that's very interesting that your phone and using some of this smart technology will take it out of your hands and go ahead and do that work for you so that you don't have to waste your time. [00:23:31] Speaker A: Now, when you say it's built in, do you mean literally like you don't have to pay for it, you don't have to subscribe to anything? [00:23:38] Speaker C: No, it's in. It's in. And we're going to talk about a little bit, some other things that you can do. But no, this is, yeah, this is built into your phone's features. If you're on the newer updates, that's pretty great. It's built in. Yeah, it's nothing. This is already, it's at your fingertips. It's at, it's at your disposal. So I said you don't have to install anything or do anything, anything additional. [00:23:56] Speaker A: It's worth taking a shot at that just because it's. What have you got to lose, really? [00:23:59] Speaker C: Yeah. So it's in there. Now there are some other things that you can do. So each carrier, if you're on one of the three major carriers, now used to be four, but now we've had some mergers and things. So there's three major carriers, Verizon, AT&T and T Mobile. If you're on any of these three. Now some of the other smaller providers may have options of this and there are third party apps that can do similar things. I'm not going to mention any of them, but each of the carriers do have free apps that you can install. For my carrier, I use the free app as well. And it adds a few features too as well to where it will check itself through the, at the carrier level. Is this, is this a known spam caller at the carrier level? And if, if it, if it checks it and says, oh, it's a spam call, it doesn't even get to the phone, the carrier disregards it and it will, it will block it at the carrier level. So you have that option too to where it's still, it's not going to get to your device. And, and I would recommend if you were on any of those three. So Verizon and I've got to look at my notes for this to make sure I get the names right. Verizon's is called call filter AT&T is called Active Armor and T Mobile is called Scam Shield. So I would look at those. It doesn't matter if you're on iOS or Android. Check, check the App Store, check the Google Play Store for those apps because those are free from your carriers. If you're on that carrier, it is free. [00:25:22] Speaker A: Right. [00:25:22] Speaker C: And you can utilize those as well. So that again, that stops it at the carrier level, stops it in its tracks. And, and there's some other things that are built in from the carriers. Like you can see check marks and stuff in your call history confirming that, yes, this is a legitimate call. This isn't somebody, right. Spoofing a call or do this has been authenticated by the carrier. It came through their network. Now that's a little bit limited because it's got to be same network calling the same network. Those kind of things. [00:25:49] Speaker A: I got you. [00:25:49] Speaker C: But again, you can, there's some other things that you can look at. They're just not as necessarily as intuitive or built in like this. You know, these tools are built in that we first talked about. Then you have carrier apps, you have third party apps. My recommendation is double up, use the built in features of the phone and then also look to see if your carrier has one of those apps and use it because again, it's going to eliminate it before it gets to you. [00:26:14] Speaker A: Now the only time you may not want to do this, if you just like to waste their time because they're wasting yours. And if you, you can leave those features off, if you just want to talk to random people and, and try to repay the favor. Right. [00:26:25] Speaker C: And I used to do that. [00:26:27] Speaker A: I know a lot of people still do quite a bit. [00:26:29] Speaker C: I would answer the phone and listen. It was, it was entertaining to see. Listen, if they're on the phone with me for five or 10 minutes and I'm wasting their time, that's five or 10 minutes that they're not trying to scam somebody else. [00:26:42] Speaker A: It's one of the things. Well, it just kind of makes me feel better. I don't, I don't know if it makes any difference in the, in the grand scheme of things. But yeah, I know you could pull. [00:26:49] Speaker C: The UNO reverse card on them too and try to, you know, if they're trying to sell you something or get you to do something, be like, well, listen, I need you to do this for me. Just flip it on them and it's, you can have. You can have fun with, with these individuals. That's funny. Unfortunately, oftentimes they're unscrupulous. That's true. And, you know, we joke about the extended car warranties, but sometimes there are individuals who are trying to do some things that will cause true and real harm. [00:27:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:21] Speaker C: And you know, their scams and their tactics and the things that they're trying to do. They're trying to do very unscrupulous things that will cause true harm. [00:27:29] Speaker A: Right. [00:27:30] Speaker C: To individuals. And so be careful whether, whether you utilize these tools or not, always be careful and be vigilant when you're talking to somebody that you don't know on the phone. [00:27:41] Speaker A: That's very true. And for this segment of the Local Click, we are lucky to have Mr. Louis Jack Medley, of course, with DTC Communications. How are you doing today? [00:27:51] Speaker F: I'm doing great. How are you? [00:27:52] Speaker A: I'm doing great. I'm doing great. And we've known each other a long time. And some of the questions we may talk about, I may even know some of the answers because we kind of been here for a while, but a lot of the people that are watching and listening may not know it. So. [00:28:05] Speaker F: Yeah. [00:28:05] Speaker A: May not tell your story a little bit and that sort of thing. But before we kind of get started, tell us more about yourself and your family and kind of what you love most about working and living here in Middle Tennessee. [00:28:20] Speaker F: Well, I was born and raised here in smithville, went to DeKalb County School System fresh out of high school and started here. I'm married to my lovely wife. Her name is Constance. We've been married for 19 years. We got two sons. My oldest son, his name's Mason. He's 15. And then my youngest son, he is. His name is Ethan, and he is 12. And we, we live in Sparta now. We did live in DeKalb, but we've moved to Sparta. [00:28:49] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. So tell us about how you kind of got started with DTC and the different roles that you've had at the company and kind of what your current role is as well. [00:29:00] Speaker F: Yeah. So I was, you know, like I said, right out of high school. I graduated in 2000. In 2001, I got on here January 3, 2001, got on here, got hired on as a INR, or insulation repair technician. 04. I went to a cable splicer that was positioned come over for a cable splicer. So I moved to that position. Done that for a couple years. And then about 2006, I went to a department called Key System PBX and we installed business phone systems, business Internet, stuff like that. 2013, they had a position come available. It was a combo tech, which combined both jobs, the installation and repair and the splicing position. So it was a combination. So I went back to that, done that until my current position. Now I got that. I got this position of the construction coordinator in about 2000s was. Okay. So I'm currently doing that position now. [00:30:04] Speaker A: So that's your current position. Construction coordinator. [00:30:07] Speaker F: Construction coordinator. [00:30:08] Speaker A: Now that sounds important. I don't know what that is, but kind of explain to everybody what that is and the kind of tasks that you typically do on a daily basis. [00:30:16] Speaker F: We have several crews, construction crews, that what they do is they go out and build this fiber. We have lots of jobs and projects going on. So we have those crews running. And then we also have a right of way crew. Some of these crews are DTC staff, some of them are contract crews. [00:30:38] Speaker A: Okay. [00:30:39] Speaker F: But what I do is I coordinate their work on a daily basis, you know, making sure that these jobs are getting done on time or ahead of time. Managing basically what they're doing and where they're going. Just making sure everything gets done, that kind of thing. [00:30:58] Speaker A: It sounds like you have a lot of schedules. [00:31:00] Speaker F: Yeah, a lot of schedules. Is that a way of putting it? A lot of schedules to keep up with and where people's going and what time we're getting this stuff done and making sure everything's done in time. [00:31:10] Speaker A: I bet organizational skills are pretty important in a position like that. [00:31:14] Speaker F: Yeah, yeah. Just a good old, good old fashioned calendar does it for me. I like to write. [00:31:19] Speaker A: Everybody has their own way of doing things. [00:31:20] Speaker F: Write it out on a calendar and that way I don't forget nothing and they don't forget nothing. [00:31:25] Speaker A: I know things have changed a lot through the years. Even in your time here at dtc. What are some of the things you've kind of seen that have changed that kind of stick out in your mind? [00:31:35] Speaker F: The fiber coming in, the copper going away. I never thought I'd see it leave completely, but it's about gone. [00:31:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:43] Speaker F: And these speeds that we're getting now is just unreal considering when I started it was dial up Internet. You know, people, you know, couldn't be on the phone and on the Internet at the same time. It was just. It's a lot different now with everything that's going on. [00:32:00] Speaker A: Would you have ever imagined that you would see these kind of changes over that period of time? [00:32:06] Speaker F: Not in this quick of time. Yeah, it seemed like, you know, it's fixed to be 25 years for me. So I'm. I'm like, it don't seem like it's been that long. [00:32:16] Speaker A: So. Talk about some of those early beginnings of our fiber build out. [00:32:20] Speaker F: Yeah, in the beginning. Yeah, when we started this, we hit it full force. I mean, we was. We was wide open. We had lots of crews running. We had right away crews going in. Well, we had staking crews going in first. They would stake the line. We had right of way crews coming in behind them, trimming it out, getting ready for the new line to come in if there's any trimming needs to be done. And then we had our place and crews come in. We had several of those running at one time. Place and crews, they was building the line right after they get through building that line. We had the splicers come in and they. They spliced it all up and everything. But it was. Yeah, in the beginning it was. It was pretty wild. We was. We was in several areas running fast. [00:33:06] Speaker A: At the same time kind of. Yeah, a lot of multitasking. [00:33:09] Speaker F: A lot of multitasking. They way we just had, it was. It was very busy. We had lots of crews going everywhere. [00:33:15] Speaker A: And you probably had to coordinate not only the construction parts, but some of the financial parts of that too, right? [00:33:21] Speaker F: Yes. So during that time, we had. We had buried crews. We had arrow crews. You know, we had crews that done specific things. You know, some of them do just underground stuff. [00:33:34] Speaker A: You know, they specialize just in those. Specialized. [00:33:36] Speaker F: Just in that. Yeah. And then. And then like you said, the billing and stuff like that on that, it was. It was a full time job, if not a little more. [00:33:46] Speaker A: And then you have the different grants and things like that that you're working with, right? [00:33:50] Speaker F: Yes, the grants that we had to meet those dates and get that. Get that fiber built by. It kept us on our toes. Yeah. [00:34:00] Speaker A: What kind of advantages do you think our customers are seeing from our switch over to fiber? [00:34:05] Speaker F: I got a long background in troubleshooting, so that's usually where I go with the advantage is not. Not everybody, but there was a lot of trouble issues and stuff. And this fiber has really clarified a lot of that. [00:34:15] Speaker A: I mean, because you see less trouble. [00:34:17] Speaker F: In general with a lot less trouble with our copper lines. Everything affected the copper. If it was lightning to. To the rain, to the sun, it was just something was affecting that copper all the time. And the fiber just is not that way. Fiber ages very well. [00:34:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:33] Speaker F: You know, it doesn't age like copper did. So I think that's a big advantage from kind of my background is, is once you get that fiber there, it's there as long as you know something don't happen to it. Far as a squirrel or something like that. [00:34:48] Speaker A: Some kind of damage. [00:34:48] Speaker F: Some kind of damage, yeah. Tree falling, that kind of thing. [00:34:51] Speaker A: Of course, you kind of mentioned this too, but, but I mean the speed part is just almost unreal, isn't it? It is how fast you can. [00:34:58] Speaker F: It is. And they keep talking about how we're going to keep going faster and faster and I'm like, golly, yeah. I mean that's a lot. [00:35:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, I know you're over a lot of different people on a day to day kind of scenario and you're trying to accomplish task of running fiber in different places. And of course, where we are here in middle Tennessee, some of these landscapes are pretty challenging. Do you see a, a lot of issues or challenges as far as trying to get fiber from point A to point B and some of the kind of different areas that we have to work in? [00:35:28] Speaker F: Yeah, it can be, it can be very challenging. Sometimes when you get an easy one, it's really nice to have that because you're like, oh, this is going to be easy. But you know, the hard ones, sometimes they can really get hard. [00:35:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:35:41] Speaker F: Probably one of our biggest problems is the weather with these crews running and trying to get this fiber run and, and installing these lines, these houses and stuff. I mean, we don't want to get in there when it's a big mess and you know, a lot of rain and stuff. And during our, during our rainy seasons, you know, with, you know, December through March, you know, we get a lot of rain and stuff and we just have to stay on top of the schedule with all that and stay ahead of this rain and watch it and you know, maybe this is a better day for that. So. And we try not to get ourselves in a bind. [00:36:14] Speaker A: You know, I think that's a good point too that, you know, we don't talk about a lot, but it sure is a, a big, a big deal in what you do is weather. [00:36:24] Speaker F: Yeah, weather affects us a lot. We have to really pay attention to that weather. Just depending on what time we want to get out there, we want, you know, we love days like today when it's sunny and. [00:36:34] Speaker A: Right. [00:36:34] Speaker F: Stuff like that. But you know, you got really got to watch that weather or if you. [00:36:37] Speaker A: Have an issue where there's a repair or something needs to happen. And even if it's snowing or, or whatever, I mean, you kind of have to do what you have to do, don't you? A lot of times just to get that service going. [00:36:48] Speaker F: And you was talking about the terrain too. I mean, the terrain is, it can be, it can be rough, you know, especially with us running this. We run a lot of fiber underground, so you don't know what's under the ground, you know, until you start digging there. And you know, we have to watch out for other utilities and tree roots, rocks, that kind of things. I mean, we go to some places and it's pretty rocky, so we have to watch out for that stuff. [00:37:13] Speaker A: Yeah, well, from people at home to businesses to churches to hospitals to, you name it. We kind of do our part to keep people connected, you know, with our services and that sort of thing. Do you ever stop and just think about the kind of difference that you're kind of making and allowing these people to have their day to day lives and communicate and do all the important things they need to do just to, just to make life work, so to speak? [00:37:40] Speaker F: Yeah, you do think about that because you, you realize how important it is to these people in these hospitals and stuff and you know, getting them back online if they have an issue, that kind of thing. I mean, it's top of our priority list, you know, to get them back going. [00:37:56] Speaker A: Right. [00:37:57] Speaker F: And yeah, you never really stop thinking about that. [00:38:00] Speaker A: Can you think of any specific stories or times where you've kind of tried to go out of your way to help a customer get back up and running? Or is there any stories of all these years that you've done this that kind of come to mind? [00:38:12] Speaker F: No specific story, but probably take me back to my copper days back when I first started, you know, and with the landline telephone, you know, that was a big thing then. I mean, everybody had one and cell phone, I mean, not very many people had a cell phone. So landline. [00:38:31] Speaker A: A lot of people don't realize not everybody had a, a cell phone. That landline was it landline was a. [00:38:36] Speaker F: Big issue, you know, a big thing you had, you know, and you know, some of the older people and elderly people, their landline was what they got by with and, and to go into a home or something and their phone was out of service and you get that back going for them and they was just tickled and just ready to call their sisters and their kids and check up on them and let them know their phone was back working. And you know, we didn't have social media and, and Internet was barely here and it was just made you feel good to get them back going where they could talk and communicate. [00:39:09] Speaker A: It was important what you were doing. [00:39:10] Speaker F: Yeah, it was, yeah. [00:39:12] Speaker A: Do you see the, the technology future at DTC constantly changing in the years that are coming ahead? [00:39:18] Speaker F: I do because it's, it's changed ever since I've been here. I mean it's just, it's just going to keep changing. [00:39:23] Speaker A: It's not going to stop is. [00:39:24] Speaker F: It's not going to stop. We're going to keep going faster and faster. [00:39:28] Speaker A: Well, before we wrap up today, what do you think is the key, I guess, if you will, to DTC's success over these past 75 years? [00:39:39] Speaker F: In my opinion, it's probably customer service. I think our customer service is excellent. The older I get, the more I look around and watch other companies and stuff and see how their customer service is and how their treating people and I just think ours is some of the best because at the end of the day, I mean we're at, we're there for the customer, you know, and we want them to be happy if we're on their property doing work and stuff like that. We want them to be happy at the end of the day and be pleased with the work we done. So I think that's top of the list. [00:40:15] Speaker A: Yeah, if you got a happy customer. Yeah, you've got a great start with a business relationship there. [00:40:20] Speaker F: Yeah, I want them to have good relationship with us, feel like they can talk to us and you know, if they need something, that kind of thing. [00:40:27] Speaker A: Thank you so much for joining us today and Maybe in another 25 years we'll meet up again and we'll talk about how things have changed, maybe so. [00:40:34] Speaker F: Yeah, sounds good to me. [00:40:36] Speaker A: Sounds good. Everybody stay tuned. We got more of the program coming up in just a moment. [00:40:42] Speaker G: Great communities attract talented people to live, work and raise their families. We've deployed a high speed network that helps the best and the brightest enjoy better lives in our smart rural community. Great small businesses provide jobs that help workers earn a good living and provide for their families while strengthening local economies. We deploy fiber Internet that helps Those businesses succeed. Great.com Doctor and patient relationships create bonds that lead to healthier lives. We deliver secure connections so every home and rural healthcare provider can connect to the best healthcare options. Great schools help knowledge hungry students learn, think creatively and follow their passions. We've built a network that helps their dreams take off. Great farmers provide the food that sustains and nourishes our nation and the world. We keep those farmers connected to the technology that ensures their crops can thrive. We've planned, engineered and constructed a cutting edge communications network. We're committed to delivering future proof broadband so our friends, families and neighbors can live rich lives in smart rural communities across America. Your community is our community. We're your rural broadband partners. You do great things, we make great things possible. [00:42:26] Speaker C: Do you know what room the router's in? I can't get onto my Zoom meeting. Tried in our spacious new family room. [00:42:33] Speaker F: Okay, still not working. [00:42:38] Speaker D: Try it in our beautiful backyard. [00:42:41] Speaker C: Still nothing. Your new home. [00:42:44] Speaker F: Checked everything off your list except for Internet from DTC. [00:42:48] Speaker C: Oh, come on. Sign [email protected] for fast and reliable Internet. [00:42:59] Speaker A: And welcome back to the final segment for this month of the Local Click. We're going to let Justin take it away once more as he tells us all the things going on in technology land out there in his segment called Tech News Roundup. [00:43:12] Speaker C: All right, so first off the bat, let's go ahead and get AI out of the way and talk about AI first and foremost. [00:43:17] Speaker A: Well, I was kind of hoping for 2026 we'd have to lead off with some AIs. [00:43:21] Speaker C: We're. Listen, it's, it's gonna be a, the time. There was quite a bit in, in, in the month of December for AI. The first notable thing is President Donald Trump signed an executive order. And what he did with an executive order was he is trying to establish a national standard for AI regulation. And the reason he did this was because he believes that there's a patchwork, a framework within the states and different state regulation and was trying to give a solid one size fits all approach because we've got all these AI companies. And he believes that if there's all these different laws and regulations at the state level, it makes it more difficult for them, and so this makes it easier for them. I'm not arguing the pros and cons of that, just stating that that's what his intention was, that was the purpose. And so we'll see what happens with that. I think the AI companies themselves are very pleased with it because it eases some of the regulation that some states had imposed. Of course. Did you have the other side of the coin where you have individuals who don't like it due to privacy concerns and other things? [00:44:34] Speaker A: Right. [00:44:34] Speaker C: So we'll see how that shakes out. But that's very important because depending upon what happens with this AI regulation, is it going to vary from state to state or is it going to be solid? [00:44:46] Speaker A: Right. [00:44:46] Speaker C: It's going to be very, very interesting. During the month of December, though, there Was AI models being pushed out left and right. Okay. So Claude released a new version of Opus. The biggest thing was Google released a new version of Gemini. And it was enough of a leap that OpenAI went on red alert to push out GPT 5.2. So they actually went all hands in for a few days to push out their next model that they weren't expecting to push out until, until sometime early this year to get it out in December because they were afraid they were going to get behind. [00:45:23] Speaker A: They want to be competitive. [00:45:25] Speaker C: So yeah, so the competition reared its head and there was a response to it, which is great. It's great for. On the consumer. [00:45:32] Speaker A: Consumers win. [00:45:32] Speaker C: Yeah. Because we're getting more, more technology and more, more advancements quicker. [00:45:37] Speaker A: So, so when they have these new models, what does that really mean? Does that just mean you get more detailed results when you're asking AI questions? [00:45:45] Speaker C: So specifically, with the Gemini and the GPT models, it was not more for what probably you and I would use it for, which is ask general search and general questions. It was more along the lines of mathematical computation and things of that nature, being able to solve formulas and things like that. So that, that's what the big advantage. [00:46:08] Speaker A: I don't use a. For that too often. [00:46:10] Speaker C: So. So probably not. But for, but for researchers and scientific projects and scientific work, it's, it's a very important leap. [00:46:18] Speaker A: Sure. [00:46:18] Speaker C: So, so they, they didn't want to get behind because they don't ever want to get behind because they don't want these groups to swap to using a different model. Because I'm sure, well, they think, well, if we, if they swap over here, we're going to lose that. [00:46:31] Speaker A: Right. [00:46:31] Speaker C: You know, and, and there is, and we have to keep this in mind when you're using it at scale like that. They're paying for it right there. We, we have. [00:46:40] Speaker A: It's all about money. [00:46:41] Speaker C: Yes, yes. They, but they're, yeah, they're paying for instances and you know, they're using the APIs and, but they're, they're having to pay for their usage because they're using it at such scale. [00:46:51] Speaker A: They don't want to lose out. [00:46:53] Speaker C: Yeah. So they, yeah, so that's, that's the big reason for it. Google also announced. This happened in November, but we got some more clarity coming into December. Google announced Project Suncatcher. Have you heard anything about that or have you seen that? Because it's very, very interesting. So what they're wanting to do because of AI, we have data centers going up all over the place. I Mean, even here in Tennessee, we've got data centers being built. OpenAI is building a massive data center in West Tennessee. That project is ongoing as we speak. What Google is proposing and I don't know if it will come to fruition, but it, it's a stretch, it's a reach and they're very ambitious that they want to build AI data centers and put them in space. So they want to, they want to launch them in space. Yes. So they want to utilize. And you, you think about it, they want to use solar energy to power it, but you think about space, it's cooler, right? So from, from, from an efficiency standpoint, energy efficiency standpoint seems very interesting. Now it's not supposed to happen until sometime next year in 2027. Going to be interesting to see if they can do it. But Listen, we've seen SpaceX and we've seen Starlink and we've seen these other things that are happening now. I don't think it's too far of a stretch or we can we put that kind of stuff in space as well. [00:48:21] Speaker A: I mean, we haven't like science fiction. [00:48:23] Speaker C: But we have, we have a space station that people live on that orbits the Earth. You know, putting data centers out there, especially with the communication standards that we have now, I think it could happen. I think it could be very, very real. And I think it would help, it could solve, it could solve the, the data center issue because data centers are big, they're loud, you know that you've got the noise issue, you've got the energy issue because they are so power hungry. Again, you've got that, you know, the heat issue. So you power these things, they cause a lot of heat. Well, you got to cool them down too because they can't run too hot. So then you're doubling the energy usage and trying to keep facilities cool. So it's a, it's a problem and it's a unique solution that they're proposing. They're definitely thinking outside the box, continuing on and thinking about space. I think this is very interesting. We had a new administrator for NASA who was approved by the Senate. So the appointment was approved and we look ahead to next month. We have a date now for the Artemis to launch. So it is looking like we are going to be going back to the moon in some sense. Not landing on the moon, but at least orbiting the moon. And as we speak right now, they're stacking the rockets that should be used to send this mission back into space for us to potentially, you know, get back to the moon. So it's interesting. I think right now the launch date is no earlier than February 5th. [00:49:56] Speaker A: Okay. [00:49:57] Speaker C: So we're. We're just at a month out now. Notice I said no earlier than February 5th. So we've got a February. [00:50:04] Speaker A: Take longer. [00:50:05] Speaker C: We got a February 5th launch day. The problem with. With space launches in last year, I thought I was going to get to see a space launch because I happened to be down at Cape Canaveral during the day that they were supposed to do a space launch. And it was, it was. Listen, it was the scheduled launch date and like, three days out, they had to postpone it because of weather. And that's the issue that you run into. So it's no earlier than this because they've got to have the right weather conditions and things of that nature for. For these launches. So that's very interesting that we could see this mission actually get launched and see some. Some fascinating things happen again with space. And finally, another big breakthrough in technology domestically that we've seen is there's a company out of California called New Guineum Genium, maybe mispronouncing that, that has developed a new technology for producing lithium ion batteries. And what they have done is they're able to take what's called the LFP process, which is lithium. It's iron and phosphate. The f. If you're wondering why it's. LFP is furious because of the. What is. What it is actually what the. The mineral symbol. [00:51:24] Speaker A: Right. [00:51:25] Speaker C: You know, in scientific name for. For iron. But what they're able to do is they're able to do some sort of brine process where they're able to more economically produce the lithium that is needed to be able to produce batteries. [00:51:40] Speaker A: Okay. [00:51:41] Speaker C: And the problem that we have domestically is we are dependent upon international producers for lithium. Even if we can extract what lithium we can extract here, we don't really. We don't refine it Right. Domestically. And so we've got the. The ability now through this technology, if it succeeds, it's in the early stages to where it's a new technology that should allow domestic production here. And we've seen some other things recently here in the state of Tennessee there. There was a deal launched to start extracting some rare earth minerals. [00:52:16] Speaker A: Yes. [00:52:17] Speaker C: Here. Using existing zinc facilities that are already here, reopening them, and then being able to get some rare earth minerals, which again, affects technology and affects all kinds of things, because we need lithium ion batteries for technology. We need these rare earth minerals for technology. They're. They're. [00:52:36] Speaker A: National security issues as well. [00:52:38] Speaker C: Yes, it is, it is, it's a benefit all around. Especially if it's something that we can do do here because the, we're experiencing it right now. A lot of people don't. Yeah, they may not be seeing it or realizing it, but there's a chip shortage right now. There's a, there's a, there's a shortage and a lot of this still has to do with AI and data centers taking it over. But you can't buy graphics card cheap, you can't buy RAM cheap, you can't buy storage cheap because right now they can't produce them fast enough for them to be consumed. And so prices have started to go up because your basic loss of economics and supply and demand have tilted the scales in that regard. And the United States imports almost every single bit of that. And we're reliant upon foreign producers for those things. And so we see some of these shifts, may start shift, shifting that back to domestic production, which will be a benefit to us. [00:53:35] Speaker A: Yeah, that would be a good thing. Really would. [00:53:37] Speaker C: So, yep, so that's, that's it. We got a kind of a little bit bigger spectrum. We talked AI, but we talked some, some, some other things. We talked space again, I think, I think we'll continue to see space in all these various regards. Not just space, space exploration, but you know, using the, you know, pun is intended here, using the space and outer space for other things. [00:54:01] Speaker A: I see what you did there. Yes. Well, thanks Justin. I appreciate all that information. And now we're going to go over to our next segment where we tell you all about the great things that we'll be doing this month at DTC and our segment called what's up dtc? And we don't have a lot of in person events that we're working on for January, but I do have one kind of blanket statement that I want to share with everyone. It is our 75th anniversary this year in 2026 for DTC. So be sure to follow us all on social media, on Instagram and on Facebook because we've got a lot of exciting things in store to help celebrate this momentous milestone, if you will. And we want to you you to be a part of it. And I think you're going to want to be a part of it because it's going to be fun and we've got some kind of neat things in store. So make sure you follow DTC Communications on Facebook and on Instagram and kind of stay tuned for all the great fun exciting celebration activities that we have in store. And on that note, I think that's going to wrap it up for the month of January and for this first episode of the new year. Justin, thank you for joining me and thanks for always keeping us in the loop of technology. [00:55:12] Speaker C: Hey, pleasure, pleasure to be here. Appreciate our listeners for tuning in and listening to us again. Hope that you have enjoyed the holiday season and hope you you have a happy new year. [00:55:22] Speaker A: That's right. We thank Louis Jack for joining us as well as Mr. Casey Krueger. And we thank you for joining us as well. And we say we'll see you next month on the Local Click. [00:55:32] Speaker B: Learn more about the show by visiting us [email protected] Also, be sure to subscribe to us on your favorite podcast or video platform so you won't miss our next episode of the Local Click. See you next month.