Google
Suburb Topeka gave it the old college try, even changing its name to Google, Kan., for a while, but it just wasn't good enough. In Kansas City proper, Big G found the mix of build-out efficiencies, potential benefit to the community, and cooperation from local government and utilities to make it work.
The network should be operational in 2012 with an open access policy that lets other service providers sell access plans using Google's pipes. Prices for this turbo-charged service should be comparable to what people are paying for much slower connections today, but exact price lists are yet to come.
The news comes on the same day that Verizon
If your hometown missed out on this network project, don't despair: Kansas City is but the first in what could become a nationwide series of fiber networks from Google. "We'll also be looking closely at ways to bring ultra-high-speed Internet to other cities across the country," says the press statement. It's also not exactly the first community on the list as Google already dipped a toe in the waters with a high-speed network around Stanford University.
Faster networks had to come along eventually, but Google has given the slow progress of traditional competition a swift kick in the pants. High-definition video feeds will hardly tax a network like this: It'll take a lot of YouTube or Netflix
Google isn't the only company that benefits from more and faster Internet feeds. One small cap that rides this wave so impressed our top analysts that they call it the top stock for 2011. Find out more in this free report!