That sounds like the same line of crap Telus fed to my in-laws. They said that the reason their DSL connection wasn't always up was that there was too much resistance on the phone line because it (1) had too many phones hooked up; and (2) was too far from the portal, yet even after they wired a new line into the house the connection was spotty. Sounds like ADSL providers need to get their stories straight.