You do know that the copper cables will last between 20-50 years depending on the polymer sheating used. Excessive heat or other environmental factors can speed up the degradation.
The poster said that there is a noticeable difference by just switching ISPs. I honestly think a better excuse would have been the congested exchange or something which can not be reliably measured such as radio frequency or electromagnetic interference
I think it's best if we actually test with the person reporting the issue rather than make assumptions. We speak from experience of dealing with thousands of clients per day, as well as meeting directly with Telkom's senior technical staff and network planners.
But thanks for the "educated" guess
