Get ready, super-fast Internet is coming - Google brings 1 GBps broadband network to Kansas City

Google announced that the city would be the inaugural site for its "Fiber for Communities" program, which it says will be capable of delivering Internet access more than 100 times faster than the home broadband connections provided by phone and cable companies across the U.S.

More than 1,100 cities had made bids to become a test site for the company's fiber-optic network, trying to catch Google's attention and show their enthusiasm.

Milo Medin, Google's vice president for access services, said Kansas City, Kan., was selected in part because of its solid network infrastructure and because the program would have an impact on the community, one of the poorest in the state.

If more data can be sent through Internet pipes at faster speeds, Google believes people will spend more time on the Internet — an activity that typically enriches the company by bringing more traffic to its dominant search engine and producing more opportunities to show revenue-generating ads.

The company plans to offer the service "at a competitive price to what people are paying for Internet access today."