Google starts laying high-speed fiber in Kansas City

After almost a year of planning, mapping and "way too much barbecue," Google has announced that it's finally ready to start laying fiber in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri and create the backbone for its long-awaited high-speed Internet service.

The two Kansas Cities found themselves the envy of the world in late March 2011 (Kansas City, Kansas was selected first, with the project's scope later expanding into Missouri), when Google announced that they would be the test market for the Google Fiber urban infrastructure project. Google boasts that its fiber network will be 100 times faster than what the majority of American consumers have access to today.

According to the official blog post, Google is first building out a solid fiber network, laying out thousands of miles of cable across the Kansas City area. Each cable is comprised of thin fibers, about the width of a human hair. When the cables are weaved together, they'll form the aforementioned backbone of Google Fiber service in Kansas City. Once that spine is in place, then Google says it can focus on extending service into Kansas City citizens' homes.

Google is promising further updates as the project progresses. And there's still no word one way or the other if the Google Fiber project includes low-cost cable television service, too. We'll keep watching for more on Google Fiber.