Sounds like you were lucky even back then, the "toad" was a terrible device, I had to get a dedicated USB card to power it, as it was using that much power...
I'm using some kind of FTTx service where I live, although the service provider doesn't really specify what it is, but it's Ethernet to the building from a switch somewhere that's meant to connect to their fibre network. This is quite rare in Taiwan though.
I guess BT has been a stalwart in the UK when it comes to moving to better technologies which has lead to many areas not getting any kind of decent broadband. I live in the outskirts of Taipei and can still get over 100Mbps here by two different service providers, so it's clearly doable, but I guess there's little financial gain to be had for BT to give people something better...
Anyhow, I'll do some testing and get you some numbers.