The Village of St. Joseph Board of Trustees heard a presentation about fiber optic networks from Pavlov Media Tuesday night.
CEO Mark Scifres said that the company’s original vision was to provide a high speed internet access and video services to college students living off campus. Over the last 25 years they have come to serve the niche market in 44 states and 140 unique cities across the United States.
Six years ago, Pavlov Media decided to expand their fiber network to municipalities, school districts and residential customers.
Providing service to the Monticello area began when the local government asked Pavlov Media to purchase nine miles of fiber optics lines that had been laid, and gone unused. Once Pavlov offered service, they said residents began to purchase subscriptions.
Today, 40-percent of the residents in Monticello get their internet service from Pavlov.
“So our idea is to basically take this experience and replicate it to a number of cities across Central Illinois,” Scifres said.
Since then, Pavlov has built residential fiber optic service out in Farmer City, Mansfield, Downs, and Mahomet with their own construction company.
“We’re building networks, whether it’s on premise in the community or building municipal fiber,” Scifres said. “It’s all done with our own crews, we run our operations. Our mission is to help small towns accelerate access to fiber.”
With people working and doing school from home, Scifres said that access to a fiber network is important, but he also said that having access to fiber makes towns more attractive.
In Monticello, Farmer City, Mansfield, Downs and Mahomet, Pavlov Media used their own funds and low-interest loans to build out the networks. But Scifres asked the St. Joseph board to secure the funds, estimated at $1.4 to $2.1 million, depending on the prevailing wage requirements in the state of Illinois, to build the network.
Much of the financial arrangement between the private company and the public entity would have to be sifted out over many discussions, St. Joseph Mayor Tami Fruhling-Voges said.
“Their presentation was the first to explain what was being proposed,” Fruhling-Voges said in an interview over email. “This kind of liability to the village needs to be fully examined and understood before any move is made to advance. My understanding is that they are a good company and offer a great product, but in my thinking, this should mean they would have no problem getting cheap interest loans for their company and bring it to our community the same way they did in Monticello and Mahomet. I never like the idea of taxpayers’ money financing private business, but I’m willing to listen and way the options. Public and Private can work together on some important projects, but needs to be very well thought out. Also, the public needs to have an opportunity to express their thoughts.”
Scifres added that schools and municipalities are offered discounts for Pavlov service.
“We have a wide array of services and products new residents and businesses would expect me to get from a telecommunications company, ISP internet service ranging anywhere from one day to 100 gig capacity,” Scifres said. “We have IPTV services are rolling out your first quarter this year.”
Should the village choose to work with Pavlov, Scifres said that all neighborhoods in the Village would get access to the fiber network. The company believes it would take six to nine months to build out.
