Kansas might be home to Dorothy and Toto, but it now has a more high-tech resident - Google's ultra high-speed broadband network.
The search giant announced Wednesday that it will build the network, which is intended to provide speeds up to 1 gigabit per second, in Kansas City, Kansas.
"We've signed a development agreement with the city, and we'll be working closely with local organizations, businesses and universities to bring a next-generation web experience to the community," Milo Medin, vice president of access services at Google, wrote in a blog post.
Google announced plans for the network in February 2010, and has been sifting through applications ever since. Medin said the response was "overwhelming - nearly 1,100 cities felt the need for speed." Topeka, Kansas even temporarily renamed itself Google, Kansas in an effort to attract Google's support.
In selecting Kansas City, Google said it was looking for "a location where we could build efficiently, make an impact on the community and develop relationships with local government and community organizations," Medin said. The company pledged to work with local organizations like the Kauffman Foundation, KCNext, and the University of Kansas Medical Center to develop "the gigabit applications of the future."
After obtaining approval from the city's board of commissioners, Google said it plans to offer service in the area sometime next year. "We'll also be looking closely at ways to bring ultra high-speed Internet to other cities across the country," Medin wrote.
Google will be at Wyandotte High School in Kansas City with Mayor Reardon today for a launch event that will be broadcast on the Google YouTube channel at 1pm Eastern.
In October, Google said it will build an ultra-high speed broadband network for a residential subdivision at Stanford University, though that will be separate from the community fiber effort.
For more, see The 5 Strangest City Pitches for Google's New Fiber-Optic Service.