Google Set to Offer Fastest U.S. Internet Service in Kansas City

Google will move a step closer to offering the fastest citywide Internet service in the U.S. when it picks the first neighborhoods in Kansas City to get hooked into a new fiber-optic network.

The system will provide online speeds of 1 gigabit per second, about a hundred times faster than the average U.S. connection, along with television programming. Google said on Sept. 9 that at least 180 out of 202 neighborhoods in the Kansas City area have qualified for the project, which will only go into areas where residents have requested the service. The effort, known as Google Fiber, marks a new stage for the Web-search giant, which will run the program as a for-profit business.