On March 19, 2021, Oliver Dowden published the Phase 1a, 1b & 2 DCMS roll out plans for Gigabit Capable Broadband in the UK before 2025. This is part of the £5Billion investment in gigabit broadband for everyone promised by Boris Johnson at the last election. Devon & Somerset have been left out of these plans whilst all the neighbouring counties, Cornwall, Dorset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire have been included. Apparently Connecting Devon & Somerset (CDS), run by the two county councils, requested in feedback they gave to DCMS earlier this year, that the two counties should not to be included in this investment before 2025 "because it might interfere with the ongoing CDS Superfast Broadband roll out". All the neighbouring counties are still rolling out superfast broadband but only CDS seem incapable for coping with two broadband programmes at once despite the fact that Devon & Somerset have some of the worst broadband connections in the country. 

The signatories to this petition call on DCMS Minister Oliver Dowden to include Devon & Somerset in the Phase 1a,1b or 2 Gigabit Capable broadband programme before 2025. There is still time to make this happen because potential suppliers will not be asked to bid for these contracts until Summer 2021 at the earliest.