Oh Boo Hoo!!!
I got a good deal and shared it for anyone else in the same situation. Deal with it!
I set up Wanadoo ADSL for a relation a couple of weeks ago and they did not have to pay a "£40.00 activation fee" as you put it.
She is paying £14.99 per month for the first 6 months and then on to £17.99 per month there on. This is for an up to 8mb service where in reality she is getting 2mb.
The monthly download limit is 2GB where NTL's is uncapped. So what. If you're not big on downloading it doesn't matter!