Fiber optics.

What is it?

Where is it?

More importantly when will it be here?

Fiber optic communication is a transport method of transmitting data via pulses of light through fiber optic cables ultra thin strands of glass packaged in bundles in a protective shealth.

It is an extremely powerful method of transmitting Internet, voice and data, and is making older terms such as dial-up, DSL and T1 obsolete in major metropolitan areas.

Fiber optic lines have been installed in Warren County over the last 20 years, but the lines have been inaccessible, costly and for the private use of several businesses.

The high cost of stringing fiber optic cable in rural areas such as Warren County has kept infiltration limited while at the same time, Internet providers in large cities are providing services that allow customers to download high definition video at an almost real time basis.

That's about to change in Warren County.

Thirty miles to the east, the Kane Community Hospital will go "live" in January with a fiber optic pipeline that is 700 times faster than a T1 connection.

How fast is that?

It makes what was once considered "high speed" Internet connections look about as efficient as using two tin cans and a string as a telephone.

In the past, it has taken an average of 45 minutes for personnel in the Kane hospital to transmit large CAT scan files to large hospitals like Hamot for diagnosis. Starting in January, it will take mere seconds.

"For years, T1 was the holy grail (in Internet service)," says Bill Gallagher, of Insight Technology. Gallagher provides information technology services to Warren County government, in addition as acting as an IT consultant for McKean County. "What they have now just eclipses that."

"Kane Hospital has become the star of technology for rural hospitals," says Steve Zwerin, vice president of Zito Media Communications. "All of their voice, data, Internet and even telephones for their seven locations are no longer dependent on the phone company."

He should know.

It is his company providing the services.

As of now, Zito Media, out of Coudersport, is stringing fiber optic transport cables throughout Warren County as fast as their workers can hang it on the utility poles.

Ten years ago, installing that much fiber in a rural area like Warren County would have been unthinkable. It would have simply cost too much money.

Several years ago, a Tier One Communications company (Tier Ones supply direct access to the Internet, resulting in the fastest connection speed available) expressed interest in running what is known as a long haul fiber optic pipeline through the county the Internet equivalent of picking up an Interstate with 100 lanes and dropping it on Rt. 6.

That effort was abandoned.

Enter Zito Media Communications.

Zito rose up in Coudersport following the spectacular implosion of cable television goliath Adelphia. The new company was commissioned to create what is known as a fiber optic ring in neighboring McKean County, cobbling together fiber optic lines used by Adelphia to transmit its digital television services. It was that new 80 miles that created the 170-mile ring that eventually found its way through Kane, passing directly through the community hospital, creating what is known as a ringed hub.

In the meantime, the cost of electronics plummeted, making stringing miles and miles of fiber optic cable in rings in rural areas feasible.

Zito made aggressive plans to expand its fiber optic rings throughout Pennsylvania, including Warren County, as the company's executives were well aware of the Warren County Commissioners' desire to upgrade the county's telecommunications capabilities.

By the end of December, most of Zito's fiber optic rings in Warren County will be up and running.

Diverse hubs and "metro" rings are being constructed in Warren, Sheffield and Youngsville, along with other locations in the county in the future.

The city of Warren's metro rings will be up an running early in the first quarter of 2010.

What does that mean for Warren County?

"The capacity and power that can be delivered will be on par with anything you'd find in London, Washington, D.C. or Tokyo," Zwerin said.