Google Fiber is Google’s latest stab at getting into the digital television market. With an insanely fast 1Gbps fiber network, it will likely see other companies and other ISP’s sit up straight and have a good think about upping both service quality, and pricing.

The Google Fiber project is Google’s $500 million fiber optic network it built in Kansas City to provide residents with an Internet that is 100 times faster than what the rest of the world uses, because they really wanted it.

Google announced a pretty amazing list of TV networks that will participate, and naturally the service will be HD quality and include a recording service that lets you record up to 500 hours of shows in full HDTV.

It will also offer apps for the iPad and for Android tablets, and will cost $120 a month.

That might seem pricey, but if you consider that if you have DSTV in South Africa, you fork out quite a bit for a rather average service. You could say you’re paying for good sport coverage, really.

The catch? Well Google wants people to really want the service, they’re not just going to install away at will:

When we announced that we wanted to provide a community with Internet access more than 100 times faster than what most Americans enjoy today, we asked who was interested in working with us. More than 1 100 cities raised their hands, and those of you in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri won us over with your enthusiasm for better, faster web connections.

Today as we launch Google Fiber in Kansas City, we’re continuing with the same approach. Instead of us deciding where and when we install, we’re asking you.

Tell us if you want Google Fiber in two easy steps:

1. Pre-register: Starting today, if you live in an eligible Kansas City household, you can pre-register by visiting google.com/fiber. All you need to do for pre-registration is provide some basic information (like your name and address) and pay a $10 deposit.

2. Rally your neighbors: Over the next six weeks, get your neighbors and friends to pre-register too.

Here’s why: Google Fiber works better when communities are connected together. So we’ve divided Kansas City into small communities we call “fiberhoods.” We’ll install only where there’s enough interest, and we’ll install sooner in fiberhoods where there’s more interest. You can check out your fiberhood’s pre-registration goal, as well as a real-time status update of all Kansas City fiberhoods on our rankings page.

[Source: Google]