Google on Wednesday introduced a plan to offer ultra-high-speed Internet access to consumers in a test intended to showcase the potential new uses of broadband networks once such speeds become commonplace. […]

Google said that over the next six weeks, it would solicit proposals from communities interested in the service, and then announce trial communities later this year. It did not say when it expects the trial service to be up and running.

Google cited 3-dimensional medical imaging and quick, high-definition film downloads among the applications of such high-speed Internet access.

The experimental fiber network was announced by two Google product managers on the Official Google Blog:

We’ll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.

Nominate your community for Google’s new service here.