Google announced today it would provide Kansas City with Internet access more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have today. Champaign-Urbana was in the running for the Google Fiber project but was not selected as the awarded city.

The Google Fiber project is a plan to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States, according to Google’s blog.

Google plans to offer the service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.

Google has signed a development agreement with the city and plans on working with “local organizations, businesses and universities to bring a next-generation web experience to the community.”

The announcement on Google’s blog said, “The response was overwhelming (for the project)—nearly 1,100 cities felt the need for speed—and we were thrilled by the enthusiasm we saw across the country for better and faster web connections.”

Even though Champaign-Urbana was not selected as one of the trial sites, the Urbana-Champaign Big Broadband, or UC2B, continues to plan on providing extended Internet service to homes and businesses in Champaign by placing fiber rings at 11 districts.

The fiber-optic broadband Internet project entailed a $22.5 million grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration that would connect institutions such as hospitals and libraries.

Brandon Bowersox, Urbana City Council member, said the demand for faster service demonstrates the dissatisfaction of the American people with the speeds and prices of the Internet service they currently receive. Because of this, UC2B will continue to move forward.

“Even without Google’s support, the UC2B project continues and will offer another model for delivering faster and cheaper connectivity,” said Bowersox in an e-mail statement Wednesday afternoon.