The $45 Comcast charges every month for cable internet is outrageous. I look forward to more competition.

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling this week that cable companies don't have to share their high-speed Internet connections with rivals prompted fears that cable broadband prices will rise in some markets that have few independent providers. But in competitive markets, the ripple effect of SBC's broadband price cut has set the stage for lower prices as phone and companies look to reel in customers and offer them other services.

Some analysts say the fact that more consumers are starting to haggle for better rates highlights what could become a dangerous trend for broadband providers if they keep cutting prices in a market that is far from saturated. More than half of the 77 million U.S. households with Internet access still use dial-up connections. Cable and phone companies that try to aggressively push bundled packages of broadband with TV and phone service could end up creating a breed of bargain-hopping discount seekers who switch providers or downgrade to cheaper services.

"You don't want to create cannibalization where people who are paying a higher price want to switch down," says Bruce Leichtman, president of Leichtman Research Group, Inc.