22nd Century Telecommunications

Several prominent Bradford organizations announced today their agreement to obtain ultra-high speed Internet, data and digital phone services from the Coudersport-based firm of Zito Media Communications.

At a luncheon hosted by the Bradford Area Alliance, Zippo, American Refining Group, Bradford Regional Medical Center, Beacon Light Behavioral Health Systems and Zito Media Communications expressed gratitude to the McKean County Commissioners, the Bradford OECD, North Central Regional Planning and Development Commission, and Northwest Savings for their support in providing Bradford with state of the art telecommunications.

Construction of an advanced optical fiber telecommunication system will provide the region with unlimited IP based digital voice, data and Internet capacity. Expected to be operational by early December, businesses and institutions are poised to benefit from a network that will offer world class telecommunication capabilities and services.

Local business and political leaders have worked for the past two years to create an advanced telecommunication infrastructure that will allow existing companies to benefit from modern digital services. The first Bradford business to sign on with Zito Media Communications was the Zippo Corporation. “We enthusiastically supported these efforts”, says Greg Booth, CEO. “Today, we are close to achieving our IT network goals.”

Harvey Golubock, COO of the American Refining Group, Inc. (ARG) is equally enthusiastic, “Not only will we be able to greatly improve our internet connectivity speeds but with the new Virtual PBX offering, we can also upgrade our entire phone system with no upfront capital expenditures.”

The new fiber optic system is being constructed by the Coudersport based telecommunication firm Zito Media Communications. Comprised of advanced glass fibers, the infrastructure will be built in ‘ringed’ formats’. These provide redundancy so customers will not lose services if damage occurs to a portion of the ring. “We are excited to provide the Bradford business community with this next-generation solution” says James Rigas, President of Zito, “The support of these pioneering organizations enables us to complete a regional optical system that will allow world class products and services to be extended to other organizations in the northern tier of Pennsylvania.”

This type of cutting edge technology is absolutely critical if our region is to be competitive in the twenty first century”, “says Mike Glesk, Executive Director of the Bradford Area Alliance, “It offers lightening speed and virtually unlimited capacity which is comparable to that available in any large metropolitan area in the country.”

A significant beneficiary of the new service is Bradford Regional Medical Center. All nine BRMC locations will be connected with high capacity data links back to the main hospital. Records that previously took ten to twenty minutes to transfer will now be transferred in less than one second. Advanced telemedicine applications will provide live diagnostics and high definition video conferencing with specialists around the world…right in the doctor’s office. “Delivery of advanced health care will equal, and in some cases surpass, capabilities traditionally found in major city hospitals” says George Leonhardt, President and CEO of BRMC. “We will be able to bring the nation’s top specialists and diagnostic applications right into any of our facilities…instantly.”

Terry Palmer, BRMC's Chief Information Officer, says this is vital to the integration with Olean General Hospital.

Palmer also praised Zito for its accessibility and cooperation, saying that Rigas was available any time he was needed.

"Try to get the CEO of Verizon on the phone," Palmer joked.

“The capability and capacity is enormous” says Steve Zwerin, Sr. Director of Business Development at Zito Media, “Zito Media offers advanced telecommunications with no capital expenditures by the customer. Businesses will now have access to modern digital telephone services, location to location high speed data connections and internet speeds tens of thousands of times faster than DSL or Cable based internet Services.”

He said they are bring "pre-22nd Century" technology to the region.


A highlight of the new network is the ability to provide advanced telephone capabilities. With the Virtual PBX system, all business telephone operations will be controlled via an online system. Companies will pay a simple monthly fee for the digital phone sets with unlimited local and long distance services. They will not have to purchase a new phone system.

Bradford Area Alliance Executive Director Mike Glesk said if the major companies involved didn't have a commitment to the region, instead of just profits and bottom-lines, the project would not have happened.

"They've been absolutely instrumental in getting this thing to go," Glesk said.

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