Network management Toolkit 
Story: BT to run fast fibre to 2.5m homes
Are you talking about..
Virgin actually laying FTTP or FTTC? as far as I understand it for the area that I'm in Comcast originally laid the cables in this area, and that was FTTC and thick steel coated copper lines x2 per household.
I can't speak for Telewest/blueyonder which they also inherited from NTL when they bought them up, but from what I have learned from the engineers the copper that is laid has a theoretical rate of 500 Mbits providing they adopt the twisted pair method, of which he reckons they will achieve an actual throughput of 300 Mbits providing the back end systems are in place.
Mind you, you are right about the ridiculous installation charges these company's punt Virgin are just as bad on their TV services, x3 boxes standard is free, V+ is extra fee, and a even higher fee has to be paid just to be able to rent a HD V+ box.
Why on earth they just don't have the HD V+ box manufactured and rent that one out is beyond me, what bad practice not to mention waist of resources, besides why the hell should customers haft to pay an additional lump sum up front just for Virgin rent them a better box?!
I'll give ya a tip if you want an insight to had bad a company is beforehand take a look at there small print on there flyer's, the more print they is the more ways they will shaft you, so the greater the small print the greater the problem.
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