Zito Media to launch new phone service
'Voice Over IP'ready to roll; employees needed

About 35 people turned out for two separate conferences held in the Coudersport Theatre Thursday as part of Zito Media's announcement that it plans to launch a nationwide telephone service. Zito Media's Chris Keagle gave the details to prospective employees. Another session is planned Monday. Hooftallen Photo

Coudersport-based Zito Media is stepping into the highly competitive Internetbased telephone industry. Zito began a multi-phased process of introducing its new service, Phone4Broadband (P4B), this week.

Of immediate local interest is the potential the P4B venture might have for creating local jobs.

On Thursday, Zito officials held two open meetings with potential customer service and sale/marketing employees, hoping to attract the interest of qualified people who lost their jobs in Monday's Time Warner Cable pullout from Coudersport.

Another meeting for prospective employees is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Monday at the Coudersport Theatre.

P4B is being "soft-launched" nationwide. Zito has no way of forecasting its success, or the number of jobs it could create. The company hopes to successfully c o m p e t e a g a i n s t o t h e r providers, including industry leader Vonage. Phone4Broadband will attempt to separate itself from the

competitors by focusing

intently on customer

service.

P4B isn't limited by

g e o g r a p h i c

boundaries. Virtually anyone who has broadband service for

Internet access can sign up for P4B and make unlimited local and long distance calls to anywhere in the U.S. and Canada for less than $30 per month.

The service uses a technology known as Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, which is the industry standard.

A d d i t i o n a l details on P4B will be released in the coming weeks.

Zito Media was formed when the federal government and parties to the A d e l p h i a bankruptcy case divided assets of that cable giant. Zito provides cable television and highspeed Internet service locally in C o u d e r s p o r t , Emporium, Port Allegany, Austin and Roulette.