Google chose Kansas City, Kan. from an applicant pool of almost 1,100 cities. Screenshot from Google.

The speed of startup progress in one of the Silicon Prairie's hubs is about to become significantly swifter. Google announced today that it will build its ultra high-speed network in Kansas City, Kan. The Internet giant chose Kansas City, Kan. from among almost 1,100 cities that applied for the network, which is 100 times faster than the high-speed broadband in most U.S. homes.

In a post on its blog, Google cited cooperation from civic and business leaders as part of what makes Kansas City a good fit for its new network. According to the blog:

"In selecting a city, our goal was to find a location where we could build efficiently, make an impact on the community and develop relationships with local government and community organizations. We’ve found this in Kansas City. We’ll be working closely with local organizations including the Kauffman Foundation, KCNext and the University of Kansas Medical Center to help develop the gigabit applications of the future."

Pending approval from Kansas City's Board of Commissioners, Google plans to offer the ultra high-speed service starting in 2012. For more on today's announcement, check out Google and Kansas City leaders discussing the network in the video below.