Telephone wire removal

So I just had a knock on my door from a man in a hi-viz suit & hard hat informing me that he is there to remove my copper telephone cable. The cable is overhead and comes from a telegraph pole a meter outside my property. I haven't used the service associated with that cable since I cut it going into our house over 25 years ago. I know this was my old telephone line and thought this was also the cable that ISPs used to deliver the internet - I guess that was old DSL tech? (I use Virgin Media that ran their own cable underground). I take it that means that if I wanted another provider they would not have used that cable any way (since DSL has ben superseeded) and would run their own dedicated line? It's something I never bothered pursuing until I recently cancelled my long standing Virgin Media contract (only to take out a new one this month). I'm guessing this is why all the other ISPs charge an installation fee.