Google just announced that it's invited nine metro areas across the US to explore "what it would take" to bring its Google Fiber gigabit internet service to more locations. "People are hungrier than ever for faster internet, and as a result, cities across America are making speed a priority," Google says. "We've long believed that the internet’s next chapter will be built on gigabit speeds, so it’s fantastic to see this momentum." Google says up to 34 cities in all could potentially receive Fiber service. The nine metro areas where those cities are located include: 
 
 Atlanta, Georgia 
 
 Charlotte, North Carolina 
 
 Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina 
 
 Nashville, Tennessee 
 
 Phoenix, Arizona 
 
 Portland, Oregon 
 
 Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 San Antonio, Texas 
 
 San Jose, California 
 
 Google's hometown of Mountain View, California is also holding talks about Fiber. The company plans to provide an update by the end of 2014 on which destinations will officially join the list of Fiber cities. "Between now and then, we’ll work closely with each city’s leaders on a joint planning process that will not only map out a Google Fiber network in detail, but also assess what unique local challenges we might face," Google says. That includes studying topography, housing density, and local infrastructure. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Potential cities will also be pitching in to help move that effort along, completing "a checklist of items that will help them get ready for a project of this scale and speed." 
 
 "For example, they’ll provide us with maps of existing conduit, water, gas and electricity lines so that we can plan where to place fiber," Google says. Cities will also attempt to help Google tap into existing infrastructure like utility poles so the company doesn't have to carry out unnecessarily digging or put up new poles where they already exist. 
 
 "Cities who go through this process with us will be more prepared for us or any provider who wants to build a fiber network." 
 
 Currently, Google Fiber has a presence in Kansas City and Provo, Utah. Rollouts are also planned for Austin, Texas and Shawnee, Kansas. That relatively small footprint caused plenty of skepticism when Comcast cited Google as a legitimate competitor and a reason its merger with Time Warner Cable should be approved. If Google Fiber expands in a significant way, that argument may start to carry some weight. But Google wants to emphasize that nothing is guaranteed at this stage. "While we do want to bring Fiber to every one of these cities, it might not work out for everyone." But even if some deals don't work out, the company says it will share what it learns from going through this process with each city. ||||| Google Inc. told dozens of cities Wednesday that it is considering bringing them its Internet and TV services, nearly three years after promising the hookups it has yet to fully deploy in Kansas City. 
 
 In a post to its blog, Google Fiber said it would ask 34 cities in nine metropolitan areas to fill out a checklist of items to explore what it would take to string a fiber optic network in those communities. 
 
 Google has regularly said it needs cities to clear out red tape that can slow the expensive work of building a network street by street. 
 
 The companys Internet service is distinct because it relies on running fiber optic cables directly into homes and offering 1-gigabit-per-second uploads and downloads at home consumer prices. 
 
 We continue to believe that the Internets next chapter will be built on gigabit speeds, wrote Milo Medin, Googles vice president of access services. Were aiming to provide updates by the end of the year about which cities will be getting Google Fiber. 
 
 Any impact on Kansas City could be difficult to gauge. Because the company relies mostly on contractors for the labor-intensive network construction and home installations, expansion to other markets is unlikely to slow progress in this market. 
 
 An expansion would balloon its customer base, possibly providing Google greater negotiation leverage with entertainment companies for its TV lineup. It still notably lacks the popular cable channel AMC. 
 
 The news could signal a big expansion hitting several regions in the country, although none of the countrys largest markets such as New York, Los Angeles or Chicago are included. Instead, Google says it is contemplating networks in Phoenix, Atlanta, San Jose, Salt Lake City, Nashville, San Antonio, Portland, Ore., and Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. 
 
 Ill be surprised if they end up expanding to all nine of them, said Donna Jaegers, a telecommunications industry analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co. They would like to stir the pot and possibly pressure existing cable and phone companies to crank up their home Internet service speeds, she said. 
 
 She noted that the nine markets represent places where the countrys three largest cable companies  Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable and Comcast  dominate. In Kansas City, Google Fiber mostly poses a threat to Time Warner Cable, although it came on the heels of AT&T;s U-verse build-out. 
 
 More than 1,100 communities in 2010 pleaded with Google to bring them the ultra-high-speed Internet service. In the spring of 2011, Google named Kansas City, Kan., as its first choice. It then gradually expanded its plans to include much of the Kansas City market. 
 
 So far, it has completed construction and installation to much of Kansas City, Kan., and to a central section of Kansas City. It has said it will tackle sign-ups for the southern and northern stretches of Kansas City later this year. Yet home installations for much of that area probably are more than a year away. 
 
 Google Fiber will not say how many customers it has, or when it expects to turn a profit in Kansas City. 
 
 The company has made agreements with several suburbs in the market  although notably not with Overland Park or Independence  but has not said when installations in the outlying areas might begin. 
 
 Meanwhile, Google has cut a deal to build a similar network in Austin, Texas. That news was followed by announcements that AT&T; and another Internet service provider in that market would sell consumers gigabit connections. 
 
 Google also bought an existing fiber-to-the-home system in Provo, Utah, and has begun delivering its service there. 
 
 The Internet giants blog post did not say how broad its expansion plans might be. It doesnt say whether Google Fiber service will be sold in all 34 cities, or necessarily any. Still, the news bolsters long-running speculation that Google might compete nationally at selling Internet access and TV programming. 
 
 Were aiming to provide updates by the end of the year about which cities will be getting Google Fiber, Medin said on the Google Fiber blog. Were going to work closely with each citys leaders on a joint planning process that will not only map out a Google Fiber network in detail but also assess what unique local construction challenges we might face. 
 
 The company said local geography, existing infrastructure and housing density will play into its expansion decisions. 
 
 Cities will provide maps of existing conduit, water, gas and electricity lines so that we can plan where to place fiber, Medin wrote. They will also help us find ways to access existing infrastructure  like utility poles. 
 
 The Google Fiber business model has centered on going to neighborhoods where it can register the greatest demand and making consumers now-or-never offers on hookups. Thats intended to avoid costly piecemeal installations across a market. 
 
 One analyst said the news reinforces the view by some that Google sees profits in selling Internet service, not just a way to pressure existing companies to provide better speeds. 
 
 It could turn out to be a significant, profitable business for Google and stiff competition for others in the industry, Carlos Kirjner, an Internet analyst for Bernstein Research, wrote in a note to investors on Wednesday. 
 
 Experts have also said Google Fibers entry into other markets might hurt Kansas Citys there first bragging rights but is more likely to spur innovations that make full use of the service. So far, no consumer applications have been unleashed that need the gigabit speeds of Google Fiber. 
 
 But industry analysts say developers will grow more inclined to invest in creating such applications the more broadly the service is deployed.
– Google Fiber: It's not just in Kansas anymore. Google has announced 34 cities in nine metro areas—including San Jose, Atlanta, Nashville, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Phoenix—as possible destinations to expand its fiber-optic network, offering lightning-fast Internet and cable. "People are hungrier than ever for faster Internet, and as a result, cities across America are making speed a priority," the company says, per the Verge. But while Google notes it "genuinely would like to build in all of these cities," it could choose all, none, or some; teams are first "hitting the road" and "conducting detailed studies" on the local topography and infrastructure, Ars Technica reports. Already at work in Kansas City and Provo, Utah, and with plans for Austin, Texas, and Shawnee, Kansas, Google Fiber's gigabit speeds will likely worry the competition. Plus, a telecommunications analyst tells the Kansas City Star that Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Comcast (the latter two of which plan to merge) dominate all nine markets. But a larger customer base could give Google a leg up on negotiations for its TV lineup, which is still without some popular channels, the Star notes. The chosen cities should be announced at the end of the year. For the full list of those being considered, click here.