Old BT box that can be removed?

[thefurz]

Hi all,

I'm decorating our lounge and have come across these two boxes on the wall.

One of them is the Virgin cable for the TV and router and the other one looks like an old BT box (the code on the box suggests it is BT).

We don't use the BT box, so I was going to rip it out....but what has made me question this, is that the BT cable heads out of the house and enters the same brown Virgin box that the Virgin cable enters.

Both cables then run out of the brown Virgin box and in to a tube that heads underground.

Why would the BT box cable also pass in to the brown Virgin box outside? I'm assuming that the Virgin cable will be fine without the BT box and cable?

Thanks.

 

[Sally2000]

The BT cable would probably have been there first. When Virgin was installed, the fitter pushed their coax through the same hole to save having to drill anothe hole through the wall.
If you are on Virgin then the BT box can be removed. It will be redundant anyway if you go back to BT in the future because it will be replaced with fibre.

 

[sparkymarka]

It’s probably the virgin phone point ….

 

[Londoner2]

Yep, old virgin phone socket.

 

[opps]

As above, and above that as well, our Virgin has both the coax and telephone line. Ours was installed back in the days of BlueYonder

 

[Sally2000]

You have nothing connected to that old phone socket, whoever provided it, so it is now redundant

If you have a Virgin phone service it must by now be connected to a socket on the Hub. You can remove the phone socket since it will never be used again.

 

[Wayners]

Just adding.
Some Virgin boxes have Nintendo security screws holding it together which you can buy adaptors for vs forced entry. Later ones had screws making them easy to gain access.
I guess both companies used the underground conduit to get cables through.
Maybe both are live so don't short out. Unused lines are disconnected at street junction box sometimes, while others are disconnected outside house.
I'm stuck with one phone plugged in our router now. We had a problem with landline so I was told by virgin to plug our phone in the virgin WiFi router.
Our entire house phone cables don't do anything. Can't say I'm that bothered, however it's a pain just having one phone tucked away in cupboard.

I'd disconnect cables outside if you can. Your not supposed to touch it though. Maybe do just to fill holes and get rid of it