My ears pricked up too at the comments about the surge protector at the end. As Vince says, I wonder if they do apply to some ADSL2 users as well. Never mind VDSL2, I would think that I am one of the least likely candidates, as my lines are ~4.5 mi long and so I don't use any of the high frequencies, not even the ADSL2+ ones.
I wonder how would one go about getting BT to swap out the NTE5? (For the usual charge, of course.)
What happens if a surge has tweaked the surge protector? Which way would they fail? If they are like the devices that I am used to they don't fail safe, they just stop protecting you but I don't know what a knackered one that is pining for The Fjords does for the signal quality.