Google Fiber En Route to More Cities (None In California)

California cities, including San Jose, will have to wait for Google Fiber.

Google is within a quick drive of San Jose, but Google Fiber is much, much farther away than that from Silicon Valley's largest city.

The cities selected for Google's latest expansion of its fiber optic service that can deliver Internet speeds at more than 50 times the national broadband average are all in the South: Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham and Nashville.

San Jose was considered for Google Fiber, along with Portland, Oregon, but neither was selected. The tech giant, based in nearby Mountain View, did not specify why.

Google Fiber Internet service is at last coming online in Austin, which was announced to be a Fiber city in 2013, WIRED reported.

American cities lag far behind counterparts in Asia and elsewhere in the realm of high-speed Internet access: Japan, South Korea, the Czech Republic and Hong Kong all have faster Internet access on average, according to reports.

President Barack Obama earlier this month urged greater access to faster Internet speeds as a way to create jobs and make local businesses more competitive in the global economy.

The president is calling for a repeal of restrictions on local communities creating their own broadband networks, a stance at odds with major cable and telephone companies that often provide Internet service with little competition.

Obama has also angered the industry by calling for new Federal Communications Commission rules that treat Internet service providers as public utilities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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