Tennessee: Stimulating broadband

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 (TN). But company president Levoy Knowles says he is eager to expand the broadband technology to all of the coop's 41,000 customers. Ben Lomand Telephone Co-op, 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. 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.