[Horizon]

.... but they needn't drop the whole cost of the line rental if it was axed. They could increase the broadband/voip option by say £5-£10, which would still undercut everyone. I bet many customers would switch to VM to save some pennies. BT can't match on price, because they don't have a cable tv network to fall back on, yet. BT need the line rental. VM don't.

Plus, how much cost is there in keeping the many telephone exchanges that VM have?

The "incentive" on VM as I see it, is, BT (and others) are rolling out more fibre and they have the resources and people to accelerate things further if they wish.

VM still has an advantage at the moment over rivals. They have a cable tv network, no one else does. But as soon as more fibre is laid by rivals, I expect FIOS-like tv services to be distributed along those fibres, in effect turning BT or whoever into cable tv companies.