Removing old Telewest cable

[portuguesejohn]

(Part of another conversation)

I have an old Telewest socket (phone line I believe?) that I would like to remove prior to redecoration. Some assumptions:

* We have no use for this whatsoever, and never will.
* Socket was already in the house prior to us moving in, never been used.
* We are Virgin clients but only for Broadband. Even if we wanted a phone, you can just connect the phone directly into the Virgin hub/router.
* Virgin want £99 to come around and disconnect this!

I have attached 3 pictures demonstrating the socket, the outside wall and the old telewest box where the phoneline and broadband connect to, I have also highlighted the cable in green.

Ideally, I would like to get rid of this cable myself - I can see it connects to another cable coming from the ground, with limited electrics knowledge - what can I do here? Simply cut the cables? Is this something I should be doing myself or just bite the £99 bullet?

 

[securespark]

Do Virgin have any jurisdiction over the Telewest equipment?

 

[securespark]

I can answer my own question.

Yes, Virgin have taken over Telewest.
If it were me, I would disconnect and pull back to the outside, leaving the cable coiled up in a small external waterproof box.

 

[portuguesejohn]

Do Virgin have any jurisdiction over the Telewest equipment?

I don't think they have a "legal" jurisdiction over them, but their official response is "we don't recommend the client having any interaction with the cables".

I have also just checked with them over the phone, the line is dead as phone is now provided via the Virgin Hub. So it is a completely useless cable.

 

[portuguesejohn]

I have just had one impressive phone call with Virgin. Have been told they can't send someone to remove this now, but I could contact a "local tech" (whatever that means???) to do it, OR, I could just disconnect the socket and leave the cable behind the wall.

Completely different response to my previous call a few days ago when they quoted me £99 to remove this. This last phone call sounded so amateurish, I'm not even sure. Just leave the cable behind new plaster? Goodness me.

 

[securespark]

What is the reason you want to remove the socket?

 

[m5kgk]

Cut the cable in the external junction box and remove the rest. I have done this for customers plenty of times. Like you said, VM are moving to VoIP based services anyway.
I would do the same with the BT line, even if you ever returned to a BT line, you would probably need an engineer visit if the line has been off for more than a few years.

 

[portuguesejohn]

What is the reason you want to remove the socket?

Decorative purposes, we are having some work done and would like to replaster. The BT one I am happy to pay to have it relocated (it is the master socket), but the telewest one is just a nuisance and remnant of older days.

 

[securespark]

So effectively you want them both removed from their current location?

 

[portuguesejohn]

So effectively you want them both removed from their current location?

Yes, I have received quotes from both companies to move them. The BT one is fair enough, I might have some use for it in the future, so will move it to another room (where the current virgin broadband cable and my network sits at).

 

[m5kgk]

Just remove them both and forget about it. Neither sockets are in use. I should imagine the BT one will not be live if it hasn't been used for years (the pairs have probably been long reused to service other customers)
The VM one will never be reused as they are moving to VoIP.

If you ever got a BT line put back in they'd send an engineer anyway to reconnect it back to the exchange. (the stop sale for copper is within the next few years so it will probably never be reused)

 

[portuguesejohn]

Just remove them both and forget about it. Neither sockets are in use. I should imagine the BT one will not be live if it hasn't been used for years (the pairs have probably been long reused to service other customers)
The VM one will never be reused as they are moving to VoIP.

If you ever got a BT line put back in they'd send an engineer anyway to reconnect it back to the exchange. (the stop sale for copper is within the next few years so it will probably never be reused)

Speaking about the telewest line exclusively, would I just remove the socket and leave the cable behind any new plaster I put up? Could I also remove the cable altogether? It runs across my house and doesn't look all that great.

 

[m5kgk]

I'd remove it all the way back to the external junction box. Especially if it'll improve the aesthetic of the house

 

[portuguesejohn]

I'd remove it all the way back to the external junction box. Especially if it'll improve the aesthetic of the house

Should I touch the junction box at all at or just leave the cable to the side?

 

[m5kgk]

Cut the cable inside the junction box so you can make it look tidy. Just don't cut the coax only the phone line.