357-2123 • www.psci.net

Your PSC Connection Keeping You Connected

Spring 2012

Contact PSC

Office Closures

PO Box 126 • 11877 E State Road 62Saint Meinrad, IN 47577-0126

Office Hours: M–F 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m CST

Contact us by phone:357-2123 • 536-3344 • 843-5951 Fax: 357-2211For after hours trouble, follow the directions on the answering system.

After Hours Internet Technical Support:1-877-915-PSCI (7724)E-mail: support@psci.net

Call Before You Dig: Dial 8-1-1

E-mail PSC: psc@psci.net

Visit PSC online: www.psci.net

Friday, April 6Good Friday

Monday, May 28Memorial Day

Cornerstone Group © 2012

Wise Words From the DukePSC has quite the year ahead of us. We

are pushing forward with the next phase of our cooperative’s Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) project. This year’s project will be the Holland exchange with construction scheduled to begin in April. Watts Brothers Cable Construction, Inc. out of Owensboro, Kentucky, submitted a very competitive bid and was awarded the construction contract. This project will consume most of 2012 but we do hope to start cutting over customers to the new network by year-end. Engineering for our next phase, the St. Marks exchange FTTH project, will be done this year with construction to begin spring 2013.

In addition, PSC plans to make further inroads into Tell City and introduce more of

our products and services there. For some time now, we have been active in that market with our PSC Wireless product and have our fiber services to many businesses, healthcare facilities, and schools. Our plan, however, is in time to do a full scale FTTH overbuild of the community similar to what we did in Ferdinand, Indiana. If we are as successful in Tell City as we are in Ferdinand, the added customer base will go a long way in helping us achieve scale and promote even further operating efficiencies.

PSC has other planned 2012 projects, but these two alone will consume a great amount of our resources, time, energy, and money. We plan on carrying out these projects still under a cloud of regulatory uncertainty. Perhaps I

Continued on page 2

“ Courage is bein’ scared to death but saddlin’ up anyway.” - JOhN WayNE

Eric Elder is the newest Technical Support Specialist for PSC. he began working for us in Sept., 2011. In his position, Eric is the one you talk to if you call regard-ing Internet, email, and/or video questions or problems. he also helps our customers with their computer software issues, both in person and on the phone.

Eric completed two years of Computer Science at Western Kentucky University and two years of Computer Networking from Owensboro Community College. he previously worked for Tell City Cinema and as a Game advisor for GameStop in Tell City.

Born and raised in Tell City, Eric is the son of Barry and Mary Elder. he has one sister, Erin. he also has a dog named Cooper who is a mix between a dachshund, chow, and Jack Russell terrier. Eric enjoys music, movies, sports (especially hockey), video games, and anything using new technology. Eric says he enjoys helping people with their computer issues, and that he learns something new every day. he also stated, “PSC normally has a fun, relaxed working environment. and the great cowork-ers make it very enjoyable.”

Note: Employees featured in the news-letters are chosen at random from all PSC employees.

Getting to Know …Eric Elder

Cornerstone Group © 2012

should stop using the word “uncertainty,” for the FCC’s Order on Universal Service and Inter Carrier Compensation (USF/ICC) Reform has been out for some time now and many of its reforms are slated to begin July 1, 2012, unless legal action stops it. As expected, the USF/ICC order financially harms PSC. A recent impact study indicated PSC’s USF/ICC funds will be reduced by approximately three million dollars over the next five years. For years beyond that, it only gets worse. These are vital dollars that are necessary for PSC to continue our FTTH build-out throughout our cooperative.

We cannot pass along the cost of con-structing this new network to our cooperative customers. Our serving area is so big and rural, that the cost of deploying fiber optics throughout it is huge. The $29M Rural Utility Service (RUS) loan that we recently received approval on, will enable us to build our FTTH network to approximately 70 percent of our coop membership base. That’s how expensive serving rural America is. If it wasn’t, and there was a nice return-on-investment to be made, there would be other companies willing to come into our territory to compete for your service dollars. It’s not financially feasible, which is why USF dollars are so vitally impor-tant to PSC. We need them to continue our mission of providing this cooperative with the latest in network technology and more advanced, innovative services.

Does this environment we find ourselves operating in, greatly increased capital expen-ditures with decreasing USF/ICC dollars, worry me? Absolutely. Do I think we can still accomplish our mission to our cooperative members? Absolutely. It will not be easy, however. We will need to adapt to our new environment and be smarter in our plan-ning efforts, operate even more efficiently, and leverage our growth and success outside the cooperative. I cannot emphasize that last point enough. PSC has done a wonder-ful job in growing its customer base and expanding its line of services outside our cooperative territory. It’s initiatives like our

upcoming Tell City project that, if successful, will provide PSC with much needed cash and margins to help make up for the shortfall of USF/ICC dollars. In short, it will help us accomplish our mission within the coopera-tive and, more importantly, strengthen our future viability.

I recently ran across a quote from John Wayne which read “Courage is bein’ scared to death but saddlin’ up anyway.” Wise words from the Duke, and words that fit us well today. We may not be in the crosshairs of a Winchester rifle like the Duke found himself at times, but we are in the crosshairs of many challenges that lie ahead of us. We just need to have the courage to face them. And that we will.

Jim DaubyPresident and CEO

Continued from page 1

We will need to adapt to our new environment and be smarter in our planning efforts, operate even more efficiently, and leverage our growth and success outside the cooperative.

Keeping You Connected

Word Search Contest: Thoughts of Spring

S B T J U F T D N S T Z I F hQ R Z E I X O M R J U R D F UE a E B N O L E a V L M R D yI a E W W R W D O M I C a P KV R S G O O E I X W P W W D hW P O T L h C T K M S L R I yC D Q F E E S X N X O B O R aO W y J M R P L F I G F F E Ch a G a R D E N I N G S L L IM J I M O W I N G R M a L L NL L a B E S a B D J P X a a TR B L J y U M C P O C a C C hS M R O T S R E D N U h T N SM Q X D a G R K L I T Q X y EM a S P G U K y E J Z S y M S

Words to find:aPRIL ShOWERS

BaSEBaLL

CaLLER ID

CaLL FORWaRD

DOGWOOD

EaSTER

FIBER

GaRDENING

hyaCINThS

INTERNET

May FLOWERS

MOWING

ThUNDERSTORMS

TULIPS

VOICE MaIL

Word Search Drawing Winners from the Winter 2012 Newsletter

These names were randomly drawn from the returned entries:

Ronald Harbaville, Judith Quinlin, Timothy Hardin, Ed Denning, and James Dilger

Each winner received a 30-minute PSC Long Distance Calling Card.

Name: _____________________________________________________

address: ___________________________________________________

Phone #: ___________________________________________________

Directory Update Just a reminder! The 2012 PSC

Regional Telephone Directory will

be coming out near the end of

March. at that time, many of the

area schools will be collecting old

PSC directories as part of a fund-

raiser for their school. Each year,

PSC pays each participating school

for each directory they collect.

This year, they will earn 50 cents

for each directory, and with the

funding cuts, this can mean a lot

to the schools. The collections will

take place through april 20. Please

donate your old directories to a

student at a participating school.

The winner of the 2012 PSC Regional Directory Cover Photo Contest is Brian Greulich. Brian

and his wife, Kelly, reside in Santa

Claus with their two teenage chil-

dren, heidi and Nikolaus. Brian is an

environmental engineer at Waupaca

Foundry and scenic photography is

one of his hobbies. Brian took this

picture near the small lakes south-

west of St. Meinrad archabbey.

Chicken Casserole Submitted by Colleen Smith

• 2 rotisserie chickens (roasted garlic or traditional)

• 1 large can of cream of chicken soup

• 1 cup milk

• ½ stick butter

• ¾ bag Pepperidge Farm dressing

Shred chicken in bottom of 9 x 13 inch pan. Cover with chicken soup. Spread dressing evenly. Pour milk over dressing. Cut butter and place evenly over dressing. Bake at 350° for 1 hour.

2012 PSC Regional Directory Cover Photo Contest Winner by Brian Greulich

Keeping You Connected

PO Box 12611877 E State Road 62Saint Meinrad, IN 47577-0126

Main Local: 357-2123 alternate Local: 843-5951, 536-3344 Toll Free: 1-800-511-4899 www.psci.net

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Credit is good towards telephone, PSCtv, DVR and/or Set Top Box installations, and Internet installations.

Call PSC today at 800-511-4899 for promotional details and qualifications. 

*Credit given will not exceed the installation price. Promotion ends April 30, 2012.