-There's a 'new DSL' which is almost as fast as cable (or close enough for me). -I was happy with paying only $9.74/month for too long (high speed is worth the $$$).
Of course now cable modems and DSL is the "new slow". http://www.shawnhogan.com/2006/01/fiber-to-my-door.html Fiber to the door will give 32Mbit/sec for the price of DSL/cable modems. Up to 660Mbit/sec if you want to pay for it (businesses mostly).
"Formerly known as DSL" is $24.99 for ~3Mbit, and it seems really fast to me. Is 6Mbit 'standard cable' speed?