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

Obama on Thursday will head to Marquette, Mich., a university and tourism town of 20,000 overlooking Lake Superior that cherishes both its geographical remoteness and technological savvy. He'll see high-tech wireless initiatives in action at Northern Michigan University, where students telecommute, and talk about the plan in his State of the Union address 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 by AT&T, Verizon and others. And it costs billions of dollars that Republicans probably will be unwilling to spend. But it's all part of Obama's focus on innovation, technology and competitiveness as a pathway to jobs and "winning the future" - the new White House mantra.

His wireless plan involves nearly doubling the space available on airwaves for wireless high-speed Internet traffic to keep up with ever-growing demand. This would be accomplished in part by auctioning off space on the radio spectrum to commercial wireless carriers. The White House says this would raise nearly $30 billion over 10 years, and the money could be spent on initiatives that include $10 billion to develop a national broadband network for public safety agencies and $5 billion for infrastructure to help rural areas access high-speed wireless.