McKean County Commissioners Thursday finalized the agreement with Zito Media Communications LLC to construct a high-speed fiber optic telecommunications network on a scale presently available only in metropolitan areas.  

Commissioners approved  a resolution to enter into a construction and ownership agreement with Zito Media to establish a 79-mile fiber optic system  through the county and parts of neighboring counties.

The system will run in a loop through eight municipalities, including Bradford, Smethport, Kane, Eldred, Lewis Run and Port Allegany and seven “points of interest” including  Bradford Regional Airport.

The $1.16 million  project �" which has developed a unique public-private partnership and is hoped to spur economic development in the county, as well as to keep existing business and industry here, �" has been in the works for several years.

When completed, the system, which officials said will rival the systems in large cities across the country, will touch all sectors of the population, including governments, businesses, institutions and eventually residents.

Initial work, including engineering and mapping the county for the loop, has already been completed, according to Steve Zwerin, telecommunications consultant associated with Zito Media.

Zwerin said actual construction of the loop will being within 45 days, with the entire project completed by August.

The county has retained  Bill Gallagher of Insight Technology in Warren as its consultant for the project.

According to Gallagher, the new telecommunications public-private partnership being established in northwestern Pennsylvania is being closely watched by  other companies across the country, including a telecom business in Maryland.

“This will be the first model of its type in the state of Pennsylvania,” Gallagher said. “It’s all about accessibility.”

“This will help eliminate the last major impediment we have to future economic development,” Commissioner Chairman Joe DeMott said. “Businesses rely on that new telecommunications. This will allow the county to compete for new industries and thus provide more jobs.”

Zwerin said  entities and organizations who might use the system  have already been contacted, and in some cases entered into agreements, with major businesses, a school and one of the county’s hospitals already on board. He declined to name exactly who the parties involved are.

“Interest is extremely high,” Zwerin said, adding the project won’t  be just for the larger companies, as is the case when major telecommunications companies build systems.

He noted that several large telecommunications companies had been approached, but were unwilling to enter a small market.

“We have reversed the process, building the infrastructure ourselves. We want to bring this product to the small and mid-size business level.”

According to Zwerin, Zito Media, a Coudersport-based company and the last major remnant  of the Rigas/Adelphia empire, is committed to discussions with any business in the community already spending $500 a month or more in telecommunications costs. The small and mid-size companies comprise a majority of those already in operation across the county.

The larger companies only want to deal with companies spending 10 times that much, of which there are very few in the area.

The technology will eventually filter down to individual homeowners as well, officials said.

“That will be part two of the project,” Zwerin said. “We want to bring the Internet to the most rural parts of the county.”

Zwerin said the installation of the loop will also pave the way for cellular companies to expand their service in the area. It would also provide additional coverage for tourists visiting certain recreational sites in the county to go online when visiting the region.

The “loop” is unique in that it is “seal-sealing,” if a break occurs somewhere because of an accident or natural disaster, the messages and information can flow and the other direction, virtually uninterrupted.

Officials said the “optical ring” will also allow for redundant services to businesses and other organizations. That means there won’t be a disruption in service should one strand or portion of the system be affected by the weather or other means.

The technological upgrade will enable the region’s hospitals to participate  further into the telemedicine field, helping  providing cooperation and such things as distance diagnosis between small rural facilities and specialists in larger cities, such as Hamot Medical Center in Erie and others in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

 “This will allow rural hospitals to survive and flourish,” Gallagher said. “To have those affiliations with larger hospitals, they need that added connectivity.”

“What’s coming here to McKean County in the coming years is astounding for medical care.” Zwerin declared.

Officials said the county will also be able to save on its bottom line by sharing software and other technology with neighboring counties.

“Looking down the road, there could be shared data services and lower expenses for the counties,” Gallagher said. In addition to McKean County. Potter, Elk and Cameron counties are already set to be part of the system; officials are also trying to get Warren and Forest counties to take part.

The establishment of such a large fiber optic loop is an attraction for major telecommunications companies to do business across northwestern Pennsylvania, both Zwerin and Gallagher said, adding they would usually only be interested in working with individual businesses that spend thousands of dollars on their telecommunications needs.

“By getting the larger players (in the telecommunications field) that will help recruit other carriers into the area,” Gallagher said. “I’m pleased to see the commissioners have the foresight and progressive understanding to do this.”