You are under no obligation to take out a package with BT and you're free to choose any ISP that provides broadband to your address so just choose the one that suits your needs at the cost you are prepared to pay. That is what most people do.
Yeah I upgraded from DSL after being on a 12 month contract with them.
Every DSL connection I've had has had issues, particularly with slow upload speeds.
I guess I'm in a relatively "well connected" area, we have three (non-openreach based) FTTP providers here, but none of them are planning to provide services to my street yet.
Given that one of them does 1Gb symmetrical FTTP for £50 a month, from where I'm standing, DSL is very dated!