This article examines the promise of transformation and initial outcomes of Google’s ‘Fiber for Communities’ project in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. Through a discourse analysis of industry and popular press, press releases, Google’s official blog and YouTube channel, and user-generated content from Kansas City residents from 2010 to 2012, the article highlights the ways in which Google promised to transform the image and significance of Kansas City, upgrade experiences of internet access and use, and experiment with new deployment models for large-scale fiber optic infrastructure in the US. However, the process of transformation rendered certain pre-existing digital divides and inequities more visible rather than erasing them.