UPDATED Wednesday, March 30, 2011 --- 12:10 p.m.

Google brings high-speed broadband network to Kan.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -- Search engine Google says it's planning to bring its high-speed broadband network to Kansas City, Kan.

The company announced Wednesday on its official blog that the city is the first to get the new program. Google says its ultrafast network would be capable of making Internet access more than 100 times faster than the broadband connection in most U.S. homes.

More than 1,100 cities throughout the country made bids to become a test site for the network, which would provide Internet connections of 1 gigabit per second to up to 500,000 people.

Milo Medin, Google's vice president of access services, said in choosing a city the goal was to find someplace it could build efficiently, make an impact on the community and develop relationships with local government and community organizations.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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UPDATED: Friday, March 26, 2010 --- 9:30 p.m.
REPORTER: Chris Woodard

The City of Madison is pulling out all the stops in an effort to get a shot at Google's high-speed Internet, Google Fiber.

A thousand jobs and millions of dollars in city improvements hang in the balance and Madison is using pizza to get what it wants.

It is a silly ploy to land a serious project. It could be a big boost for the Madison economy and pretty nice for anyone surfing the web but there are a lot of cities looking to land this project.

The guys at Roman Candle Pizzeria are proudly dishing out their latest creation.

Fibertron, a high fiber Google colored pizza is here and never before has so much been riding on a simple pie.

Pizzeria co-owner Brewer Stouffer says, "Anything we can do to remind Google that we're a really cool city."

It's all about grabbing Google's attention.

They're looking for a city to test their new high speed internet, Google Fiber, and Madison wants in.

A pizza alone won't be enough to convince Google to set up shop in Madison but creativity can only help.

Add to it the Google Fiber ice cream they're experimenting with at Babcock Dairy and Madison is getting it's name out there.

Alder Mark Clear who has been instrumental in putting together Madison's application jokes, "Other cities have done silly stunts. Our stunts have been completely serious involving pizza and ice cream."

While downing the pizzeria's newest creation city leaders officially submitted Madison's application to Google.

If they pick Madison the mayor says it would mean 1-thousand new jobs, 97-million dollars in infrastructure investment. and internet at least 100-times faster than it is now.

Clear says, "If you're a big enough business you can afford this kind of connection now but for the average homeowner it's preposterously expensive and so the idea is to bring this to every household in the city."

The goal with the pizza is simply to drum up some attention but this is actually an item that will be on the menu at Roman Candle for the foreseeable future and they say they enjoyed helping out.

To create those Google colors the pizzeria went with spinach, broccoli, artichoke hearts, red pepper, yellow pepper, and blue cheese since they had no blue food.

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UPDATED: Thursday, March 11, 2010 --- 9:35 p.m.
REPORTER: Chris Woodard

Madison is pushing for Google Fiber and it would mean much more than a better way to watch YouTube videos or download music.

Across the country cities are in a heated competition to become a testing ground for Google's newest product.

At a public meeting tonight plenty of awfully excited people showed up to get behind this effort.

Madison city officials are pretty confident even if their approach is a little less flashy than some others.

Google is a household name that has some pretty respected people doing some pretty crazy things.

The mayor of Duluth, Minnesota jumps into lake superior.

The mayor of Topeka, Kansas renames his city Google.

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz jokes, "This is a really bad idea. It's not going to happen here."

It may be without the spectacle but Madison is throwing it's hat into the ring.

Cieslewicz says, "All that stuff is well and good and it's fun but at the end of the day Google is going to make a business decision. They're going to go where they think they can have a good test of their product. "

Google is looking for a city to test it's new fiber-optic network.

It could mean 1-thousand new jobs, 97-million dollars in infrastructure investment and Internet at least 100 times faster than it is now.

Cieslewicz says, "Madison is the perfect place for this."

At a public meeting city officials are joining with others to state their case.

Bob Koechley says, "I think we should work together and do our best to accomplish this."

And people in Madison aren't lacking in creativity. Chris Franson decided to make, and pass out, Google "fiber" pins. He's looking forward to the possibility of starting a new business.

He says, "I think this sounds like an awesome opportunity to become an Internet Service Provider."

Babcock Hall Dairy Store is even getting involved. They're testing a new flavor of Google ice cream with Google colored candy and granola to represent, of course, the fiber in fiber optics.

Store Manager Sara Brummel says, "This is a way to really set us apart by having an ice cream just for them."

The ice cream certainly won't hurt but city officials hope Madison's tech savvy population wins out.

The mayor points out Madison doesn't need to do anything crazy to get Google's attention.

He says Madison is already on their map. He just got back from Washington DC where Google was using Madison as an example to show how their new bike mapping program works.

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UPDATED Thursday, March 11, 2010 --- 7:40 a.m.

NOTE: The City of Madison will hold a public meeting on its application for Google Fiber tonight at 7:00p.m. at Olbrich Gardens.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Madison and Milwaukee are among cities around the country hoping Google will chose to test its new fiber-optic network in their towns.

The network is expected to be more than 100 times faster than current Internet connections.

Madison officials say the Google Fiber network could bring more than 1,000 jobs and $97 million in infrastructure investment to the city. Milwaukee officials say they received e-mails from residents encouraging them to apply.

Officials in Appleton and Marshfield are also applying for the project.

Google says it's looking for wide community support. The company says it doesn't want to spend time dealing with right-of-way issues or objections as it tears up streets to install its network.

In Duluth, Minn., Mayor Don Ness jumped into the frigid Lake Superior last month to try to bring attention to his city's attempt to lure Google.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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Posted Wednesday, March 10, 2010 --- 8:50 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Madison is among cities around the country trying to persuade Google to test its new fiber-optic network which is expected to be more than 100 times faster than current Internet connections.

Madison officials say the Google Fiber network could bring more than 1,000 jobs and $97 million in infrastructure investment to the city.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz tells the Wisconsin State Journal the city has a "tech-savvy, engaged population" and is already home to a Google office.

Google says it's looking for wide community support and readiness. The company says it doesn't want to spend time dealing with right-of-way issues or objections from neighborhoods that aren't crazy about having Google tear up streets to install its network.

Information from:
Wisconsin State Journal
http://www.madison.com/wsj

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.