Wow okay that is very interesting.
Just to clarify the cable outside comes FROM the ground (underneath the road actually) and goes towards the house. So therefore I was assuming it was from the exchange. But after some reading it had occured to me that the cabling may be insufficient...
Okay, my friends have just moved into a rented accomodation, where the landlord and estate agent are saying there is no contractual obligation to provide a working telephone line.
There external telephone cable and `cable` tv have been ripped out and are lying at the front of their house...