The message here "Don't let SBC/PacBell jerk you around on DSL service" was forwarded to me over on Orkut, so I gave it whirl. I had been paying $50/month for basic DSL service (384Kbps/128Kbps) with a static IP (since I started the service back so early -- now their service is Dynamic IP, but previous users are grandfathered in). After talking to a few customer service representatives, my request was finally escalated to somebody who jokingly called herself the "great and powerful Oz." I got to keep my static IP address, and I'm now paying $45/month for their "Expert Plus package" which is 1.5-3.0Mbps/384Kbps. Much better.
If you have SBC/PacBell for your last-mile internet connection, or some other similar service, and you've been paying the same rates for a while, it probably doesn't hurt to check to see if the rates have lowered!