As one of Tennessee’s biggest telephone cooperatives, Ben Lomand Telephone Co-op has invested more than $75 million in the past five years to upgrade its telephone, Internet and video services in and around McMinnville, Tenn.

But company president Levoy Knowles says he is eager to expand the broadband technology to all of the coop’s 41,000 customers and he hopes he might get some help from Uncle Sam to do so.

“We could easily utilize $25 million to $30 million if it becomes available to make sure all of our customers have access to broadband which is becoming so critical in today’s economy,” he said.

Mr. Knowles’ phone coop, which has borrowed money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rural utility lending programs for the past 55 years, could soon benefit from the federal stimulus package signed last week by President Obama. The plan allocates $7.2 billion for loans and grants to expand broadband service to underserved communities like those Mr. Knowles is targeting.

While the rules for the new aid packages are still being written, utilities in Tennessee and Georgia say they will use whatever funds become available for the costly laying of fiber optic lines and switching equipment required for faster Internet services.

“We’re looking to see if we can qualify because we’d certainly like to upgrade some of our services if money becomes available,” said Darrell Harper, director of regulatory affairs for the Ellijay Telephone Co., which serves the Copper Basin area of North Georgia.

Although billions of dollars has been invested in Tennessee and Georgia to upgrade phone and cable connections to homes across both states, nearly one in 10 residents in Tennessee -- and likely a similar share in Georgia -- still don’t have access to high-speed Internet service.

Connected Tennessee, a non-profit trade group that promotes broadband services in Tennessee, estimates that the share of Tennessee homes with broadband service climbed last year from 85 percent to 91 percent. No comparable figures exist for Georgia, although Michael Ramage, executive director for Connected Tennessee, said Tennessee’s penetration is probably about average among Southern states.

“Tennessee is ahead of most states, however, because we are one of only a handful that have already completed an assessment of where broadband is available,” he said. “We know where our gaps are and where we know where we need to address, which most states don’t.”

Most of the gaps in broadband service are in rural areas. But even urban utilities say they are exploring whether they can tap into federal stimulus grants or loans to aid in upgrading service.

“If EPB is able to secure federal funds, then we will certainly try to use them to help Chattanooga as we would with any federal program,” said EPB President Harold DePriest, who plans to launch the first part of a $209 million fiber-to-home initiative this spring.

Officials for EPB, Ringgold Telephone Co., and other area utilities expanding into broadband and video services don’t know yet if they can tap into either $4.7 billion available through the National Telecommunications Information Administration or $2.5 billion allocated for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utility Services.

Mr. Ramage said the federal funds will help most areas get connected to the information superhighway that has so far bypassed some rural areas of the country.

“These funds should be a tremendous help to many communities,” he said.