Just one question. - On all their tariffs why do VM then insist on
everybody either taking a stone age telephone or in default of taking
one pay for it anyway?

VM *do* offer broadband only packages but they aren't that much cheaper.
See eg
http://shop.virginmedia.com/broadban...-packages.html

I can only speculate on the business model but FWIW combined bundles
mean VM can quote lower prices for internet, comparable with what
competitors advertise. I guess potential new customers mostly look at
such figures. It is also not unreasonable given the cabling is the same
whatever package you take.

It may help to look at it another way. ADSL requires wires. A lot of
(young) people these days don't use wired phones, just mobiles. If they
want ADSL for faster/cheaper internet access they might say "why do I
have to pay for a stone age phone when all I want is internet?" AIUI
though they won't get one without t'other.
--
Robin
PM may be sent to rbw0{at}hotmail{dot}com