Obama promotes plans for wireless expansion

By ERICA WERNER Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama wants nearly all Americans to have access to speedy wireless service. He's promoting the plan in a small city in Michigan that's becoming a model for how the Internet can bring prosperity to far-flung places.

Obama heads Thursday to Marquette, Mich., overlooking Lake Superior. There he'll see high-tech wireless initiatives in action and talk about his new plan to expand access to high-speed wireless to 98 percent of the population within five years.

It's a lofty goal, considering such technology is only now being built in major cities. And it costs billions Republicans will probably be unwilling to spend. But it's all part of Obama's new focus on innovation and competitiveness as a pathway to jobs and "winning the future" - the new White House mantra.