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Pavlov Media outlines Illinois BEED build plan, seeks local support in DeWitt County
Summary
Pavlov Media presented to the DeWitt County Board a BEED-focused build plan that would target state-designated project-area units for broadband grants, explain funding rules and provider deconfliction, and said the company will pursue both grant-eligible and nearby noneligible homes as funding and logistics allow.
Mark Sheldon, vice president for government relations at Pavlov Media, told the DeWitt County Board the company plans to pursue Illinois’ Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEED) program grants to build out service to BEED-eligible locations in DeWitt County.
Sheldon said the state’s preliminary BEED map divides areas into project-area units (represented at the meeting as colored hexagons) that will typically contain 20–50 homes eligible for BEED grants. He explained that eligible homes are generally those with current service below 100 megabits per second and that each eligible home will be awarded to a single provider under the BEED process, which the state will later confirm with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). "One of the real challenges for the state, for every county, and for us as a company in trying to figure out the best way we can serve your community... is the grant monies are gonna fund all of those homes within those project area units," Sheldon said.
He described how the program will be "deconflicted" so that multiple applicants do not get overlapping awards for the same homes, and said Illinois is likely to favor wired solutions (cable or fiber) over fixed wireless for resiliency and long-term reliability. Sheldon noted there are other federal and state programs — including past Rural Digital Opportunity Fund awards and World Digital Opportunity Fund commitments — that leave some homes ineligible for BEED because they already have a provider commitment. He warned that some providers have defaulted on commitments elsewhere, leaving homes unserved, which he said underscores the need to choose firms that can complete projects.
Sheldon acknowledged service interruptions and said Pavlov prioritizes safety and network redundancy: "We have redundancy for DeWitt County...it comes to Clinton on our network from two different spots," he said, adding that network operations are set to switch traffic automatically if a path loses light. He provided a rough cost example for rural build costs described in meeting discussion as about $5,000 per home before grant shares are applied, noting Pavlov would typically need to cover 40% of that example cost if the state provides 60%.
Board members asked how non-BEED households would be served and whether multiple contractors could overbuild the same area. Sheldon said the state will not give BEED money for the same home to more than one provider and that Pavlov expects to serve nearby noneligible homes at its own expense when economically feasible. He also requested local letters of support and said the company will return once the state finalizes maps and award areas.
The presentation concluded with board members thanking Sheldon; no formal county commitment to a single provider was made at the meeting.
