Welcome to ... Google, Kansas?

The city of Topeka, Kansas is trying something rather unorthodox to win a highly prized broadband contract with Google.

In an attempt to become one of a few cities to partner with the search-engine giant on its new, ultra-fast broadband project, Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten signed a proclamation on Monday that would temporarily rename his locale as "Google, Kansas -- the capital city of fiber optics." 

The Topeka City Council approved the switch unanimously on Monday afternoon, according to local media reports. Topeka will thus be known, informally, as "Google" for the duration of the month of March.

(It isn't immediately clear, though, how one might refer to Topeka residents now residing in the new land of Google.)

Nevertheless, the city's lighthearted attempt to stand out among its competitors only highlights the early, high demand to be part of Google's new Internet trial.

The company announced earlier this month that it hoped to incubate new, high-speed broadband lines in one or more "testbed" cities across the country this year, with the stated goal of creating connections 100 times faster than most broadband lines.

Applications for that program are not due until late March, according to reports. However, a number of cities and states have jumped on the opportunity to try the new broadband lines, believing the tech upgrades could foster local economic development.