Google is feeling the need for speed. The Internet search engine giant wants to bring high speed Internet to the next level - with service up to 100 times faster than what you currently have. Now, the city of Tallahassee is trying to get in on this high-tech experiment.

John Wallace visits the Red Eye Coffee Shop in Midtown Tallahassee two to three times a week. And he gets wired off more than just the coffee. "If they didn't have Internet access, I wouldn't be here," he says.

"My computer is like a third arm or something. I'm always using it," says FSU student Paul Rendleman, another regular at the cafe.

Many people in the coffee shop support the City of Tallahassee's efforts to get in on Google's plan to test an ultra-high speed broadband network in select communities.

"The Google network would be fiber to the home," explains Don DeLoach, Chief Information Systems Officer for the City of Tallahassee. "Instead of fiber stopping at the street and coaxial into the house, google is proposing to go fiber into the home. which is going to increase your ability to have broadband speeds as high as their predicting."

At one gigabit per second...

"It's going to be 100 times faster than what we have today," says DeLoach.

But first, the city must apply.

"That doesn't mean that we're going to get it," says City of Tallahassee Commissioner Gil Ziffer. "It doesn't mean, even if we're identified by Google, that we're going to do it. But we figure we at least need to try."

The application consists of two components: First, the city must show it's ready in both infrastructure and economy. Second, it must show that the community is excited about such an initiative. The city says it can do both. Right now, city commissioners are working with information technology specialists to get the word out about the Google proposal to students and others in the community.

"If we are chosen, i believe it would be an economic boon to our society," says DeLoach.

The application must be submitted to Google by March 26, 2010. After that, it's just a waiting game to hear back for all of the cities that are vying to get picked.

For more information, head to www.getagigabit.com