---
kind: "section"
citation: "47 U.S.C. § 1701"
title: "47"
title_heading: "Telecommunications"
number: "1701"
heading: "Findings"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/47/1701"
units:
  - "Chapter 16 — Broadband Access"
  - "Subchapter I — Broadband Grants for States, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Territories"
---

# §1701. Findings


Congress finds the following:

- (1) Access to affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband is essential to full participation in modern life in the United States.
- (2) The persistent “digital divide” in the United States is a barrier to the economic competitiveness of the United States and equitable distribution of essential public services, including health care and education.
- (3) The digital divide disproportionately affects communities of color, lower-income areas, and rural areas, and the benefits of broadband should be broadly enjoyed by all.
- (4) In many communities across the country, increased competition among broadband providers has the potential to offer consumers more affordable, high-quality options for broadband service.
- (5) The 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic has underscored the critical importance of affordable, high-speed broadband for individuals, families, and communities to be able to work, learn, and connect remotely while supporting social distancing.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 117–58, div. F, title I, § 60101, Nov. 15, 2021, 135 Stat. 1182.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Short Title

Pub. L. 117–58, div. F, title III, § 60301, Nov. 15, 2021, 135 Stat. 1209, provided that: “This title [enacting subchapter II of this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Digital Equity Act of 2021’.”