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Google said Tuesday it was eyeing expansion of Google Fiber, its superfast Internet service, to Chicago and Los Angeles.

In a company blog post, Jill Szuchmacher, director of Google Fiber expansion, said the company will work with city leaders to collect information and study factors that could affect construction of such a network.

The company says its service offers speeds of up to 1,000 megabits per second and is already live in Kansas City, Mo.; Austin, Texas; and Provo, Utah.

At such speeds, the company says, a customer could download a high-definition movie in about 7 seconds.

The statewide average broadband speed in Illinois is 31.2 Mbps, according to data from BroadbandNow, a comparison and research website.

“In Chicago, fiber Internet will help bolster a fast-growing startup scene by fueling incubators like 1871, venture capital funds like Chicago Ventures and hundreds of small businesses,” she said. “With the help of the city’s leadership, Internet speeds can help attract more tech talent and add to the 40,000 tech jobs that exist across the Windy City.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel agreed, saying in a statement that Google Fiber would be “a key ingredient for job growth.”

Source: Chicago Tribune