The Story of PenTeleData

In June of 1948, one of PenTeleData's corporate founders set an antenna atop a mountain, ran a wire down to his nearby appliance store and extended it to homes of customers who had purchased his TV sets. This launched a worldwide communications revolution: The Birth of Cable Television. Today, we offer high-speed Internet access to businesses, households and educational facilities throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

At the dawn of the information age in 1994, Pencor Services, Inc. founded PenTeleData with the purpose of providing affordable Internet access, and with the vision of providing Broadband High-Speed Internet. We began with only six employees operating out of a small facility in Palmerton.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were cropping up all over the country. Some of the first and most popular service providers did not provide access to the World Wide Web. Only later, as the WWW grew in popularity, did access become widely available.

Luckily, our founders saw what the future might hold for this so-called “information superhighway” and strategically planned accordingly. Part of that plan was the partnership with local cable television and telephone companies to provide high-speed Internet access.

That partnership continues today, and includes Service Electric Cable TV and Communications, Service Electric Broadband Cable, Service Electric Cablevision, CATV Service, Inc., Ironton Telephone and Blue Ridge Communications. Each one contributes a rich history of quality communications services and strong community involvement.

Initially, we offered only toll-free dial-up Internet access to residential and commercial customers and high-speed dedicated connections to larger organizations.

Dial-up service was available to customers in the Palmerton and Lehighton areas of Pennsylvania. We began service to the first dial-up customer on February 1, 1995. By the end of that month, our first billing consisted of 200 customers.

In March of 1995, Moravian College became one of our first and largest commercial customers.

Shortly thereafter, PenTeleData became the first data and Internet Service Provider in the nation to offer broadband cable Internet service.

Our number of commercial customers continued to increase, including The First National Bank of Palmerton and Lewisburg, Pennsylvania-based SEDA-Council of Governments (SEDA-COG).

In the fall of 1998, we acquired Microserve, an Internet Service Provider based in the Wilkes-Barre area.

By the end of the year 2000, our number of dial-up customers reached upwards of 50,000. As the company continued to grow, we introduced an Integration Service Team to design, install, train, support and service technology solutions for businesses.

As time passed, our goal of providing high-speed Internet access over cable television lines became more and more of a reality. By 2003, we were offering High-Speed Broadband Internet to over 50,000 customers. By October 2004, that number reached 75,000. Just ten months later, in 2005, there were more than 100,000 high speed Broadband customers!

In March 2005, PenTeleData introduced their Unleashed Wi-Fi Hot Spot Access as a free feature of Broadband Service. We created a new mascot, a bulldog, to represent being “unleashed” or free of wires to connect to the Internet. Today, there are PenTeleData Unleashed Wi-Fi Hot Spots in over 170 locations in 14 counties and we are still expanding!

Most recently, we introduced Computer Patrol, an in-home and at work service to help with wireless networking, virus and spyware protection, software installation, computer repair, personalized training sessions and more. We offer specialized residential packages in nine counties, including Carbon, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton and Schuylkill in Pennsylvania; and Hunterdon and Warren Counties in New Jersey. Residential and Commercial services are available to our entire footprint.

As one of the largest privately owned networks in the nation, PenTeleData has over 5,000 miles of fiber optic wiring deployed and over $300 million invested in fiber optic infrastructure. Our MPLS network with Intelligent Routing delivers trustworthy Internet, networking, security and data transport services to residential, educational, financial, government and commercial customers throughout the greater Pennsylvania and New Jersey regions. Our customers range from large Health Care providers, like Geisinger Health Systems and Lehigh Valley Hospital to individual residential customers.

Our highly trained staff is comprised of certified industry experts who are knowledgeable in virtually every Internet /network technology. Our Network Control Center provides multiple levels of service and support with round-the-clock monitoring.

As we look forward to a promising future, PenTeleData will maintain an advanced position within the communications industry and continue our commitment to the community. We truly are “A Good Neighbor”.