imagine turning up for work Monday and having to register 2 million macs
It is a good idea (not the shub though) and what they should do is send them out to everyone but record the macs first and add them to the account before dispatch so they are good to go and then set a script to delete the old macs after a month.
If I was the head honcho for VM I would get Ambit to make a new VMNG300 with 8 channels and send one out to every customer and then you know everyone is sorted with a decent modem. If peeps want a router, setup a contract with Linksys for the E3200 and send them out to customers that request them and then you have standardised the CPE across the network with kick ass equipment which you know you arent going to have any problems with.