This week Google announced plans to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States.

Using fiber-to-the-home connections, the company says it will deliver Internet speeds of 1 gigabit per second – which is roughly 100 times faster than the broadband available to most Americans today. Google says it will offer service at a competitive price to 50,000-500,000 customers.

And Google says the whole thing will operate as an "open access" network, giving users the choice of multiple service providers. The company says it will manage the new network in “an open, non-discriminatory and transparent way.” In other words, Google’s new network will practice “network neutrality,” something current Internet service providers such as AT&T and Comcast are fighting tooth-and-nail to avoid.

We hope Google is able to pull this thing off, if for no other reason than to make the AT&Ts and Comcasts of the world wet their pants. The mere presence of a cutting edge service like the one proposed by Google – which, by the way, is already available in some other countries – has the potential to shake up the current business model of American ISP companies.

By itself, that would be a very positive development for consumers. The big ISPs would likely feel pressure to provide better service and more reasonable prices, pressure they don’t feel right now.

Google’s network could also show millions of Americans how slow and expensive their current Internet service really is. For example, average U.S. Internet speeds today are 18th in the world, and that service is far more expensive than it is in other countries with faster speeds.

There are still more questions than answers about the proposed Google network, but we have to say that we like what we are hearing. We’ll be watching closely. And we hope Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and the other giant Internet service providers are watching closely too.