I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 600 
To promote Internet access in developing countries and update foreign policy 
toward the Internet, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 23, 2017 
Mr. ROYCE of California (for himself, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. ENGEL, 
and Ms. MENG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To promote Internet access in developing countries and up-
date foreign policy toward the Internet, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Digital Global Access 
Policy Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘Digital GAP Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to— 
(1) encourage the efforts of developing coun-
tries to improve mobile and fixed access to the Inter-
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net in order to catalyze innovation, spur economic 
growth and job creation, improve health, education, 
and financial services, reduce poverty and gender in-
equality, mitigate disasters, promote democracy and 
good governance, and strengthen cybersecurity; 
(2) promote build once policies and approaches 
and the multi-stakeholder approach to Internet gov-
ernance; and 
(3) ensure the effective use of United States 
foreign assistance resources toward this end. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The number of Internet users worldwide 
has more than tripled from 1 billion to 3.2 billion 
since 2005, yet the growth rate of Internet access is 
slowing: An estimated 4.2 billion people, or 60 per-
cent of the world’s population, remain offline, an es-
timated 75 percent of the offline population lives in 
just 20 countries, and rural, female, elderly, illit-
erate, and low-income populations are being left be-
hind. 
(2) Studies suggest that women across the de-
veloping world are disproportionately affected by a 
digital gap, and that bringing an additional 600 mil-
lion women online would contribute $13 billion to 
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$18 billion to annual GDP across 144 developing 
countries. 
(3) Internet access in developing countries is 
most often hampered by a lack of infrastructure and 
a poor regulatory environment for investment. 
(4) Build once policies and approaches, which 
seek to coordinate public and private sector invest-
ments in roads and other critical infrastructure, can 
minimize the number and scale of excavation and 
construction activities when installing telecommuni-
cations infrastructure in rights-of-way, thereby re-
ducing installation costs for high-speed Internet net-
works and serving as a development best practice. 
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
Congress declares that it is the policy of the United 
States to consult, partner, and coordinate with the govern-
ments of foreign countries, international organizations, re-
gional economic communities, businesses, civil society, and 
other stakeholders in a concerted effort to close the digital 
gap by promoting— 
(1) first-time Internet access to mobile or 
broadband Internet for at least 1.5 billion people in 
developing countries by 2020 in both urban and 
rural areas; 
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(2) Internet deployment and related coordina-
tion, capacity building, and build once policies and 
approaches in developing countries, including actions 
to encourage— 
(A) standardization of build once policies 
and approaches for the inclusion of broadband 
conduit in rights-of-way projects that are fund-
ed, co-funded, or partially financed by the 
United States or any international organization 
that includes the United States as a member, in 
consultation with telecommunications providers, 
unless a cost-benefit analysis determines that 
the cost of such approach outweighs the bene-
fits; 
(B) adoption and integration of build once 
policies and approaches into the development 
and investment strategies of national and local 
government agencies of developing countries 
and donor governments and organizations that 
will enhance coordination with the private sec-
tor for road building, pipe laying, and other 
major infrastructure projects; and 
(C) provision of increased financial support 
by 
international 
organizations, 
including 
through grants, loans, and technical assistance, 
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to expand information and communications ac-
cess and Internet connectivity; 
(3) policy changes that encourage first-time af-
fordable access to the Internet in developing coun-
tries, including actions to encourage— 
(A) integration of universal and gender-eq-
uitable Internet access goals, to be informed by 
the collection of related gender disaggregated 
data, and Internet tools into national develop-
ment plans and United States Government 
country-level development strategies; 
(B) reforms of competition laws and spec-
trum allocation processes that may impede the 
ability of companies to provide Internet serv-
ices; and 
(C) efforts to improve procurement proc-
esses to help attract and incentivize investment 
in Internet infrastructure; 
(4) the removal of tax and regulatory barriers 
to Internet access; 
(5) the use of the Internet to increase economic 
growth and trade, including— 
(A) policies and strategies to remove re-
strictions to e-commerce, cross-border informa-
tion flows, and competitive marketplaces; and 
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(B) entrepreneurship and distance learning 
enabled by access to technology; 
(6) use of the Internet to bolster democracy, 
government accountability, transparency, and human 
rights, including through the establishments of poli-
cies, initiatives, and investments that— 
(A) support the development of national 
Internet plans that are consistent with United 
States human rights goals, including freedom of 
expression, religion, assembly, and association; 
(B) expand online access to government in-
formation and services to enhance government 
accountability and service delivery, including for 
areas in which government may have limited 
presence; 
(C) advance the principles of responsible 
Internet governance, including commitments to 
maintain open and equitable access; and 
(D) support programs, research, and tech-
nologies that safeguard human rights and fun-
damental freedoms online, and enable political 
organizing and activism, free speech, and reli-
gious expression that are in compliance with 
international human rights standards; 
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