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When you think of cities on the cutting edge of technology, Loma Linda, Calif., doesn't exactly spring to mind. Yet residents and businesses in this small community 60 miles east of Los Angeles have easier and less-expensive access to higher-speed broadband connectivity than most.

"We became the fastest Internet city in North America because we focused on getting started and became committed to getting it built. Residents and businesses have connectivity that's faster and more resilient than all but a handful of scientific and Fortune 15 data centers in the world," says James Hettrick, IS director for Loma Linda.

Such connectivity, not to mention initiative, earns the city of Loma Linda a 2006 Enterprise All-Star Award.

Connecting a community

Loma Linda's Connected Community Program began in late 2003, when the City Council mandated data connectivity in all living and working spaces. It approved a groundbreaking law, updating the city's residential and commercial wiring codes to require builders to include structured wiring and standard fiber-optic technology in new construction and any existing buildings with 50% or more of their structure being remodeled. This would enable these buildings to connect to one of multiple fiber-optic rings that the city would install around the city.