From a free market standpoint, they can sell their cable service and cable digital access as a lower priced package if they want. It's a free country.

That being said...

Blow 'em out of the water. Take your business elsewhere. Don't know where you live, but here in Silicon Valley I've got a choice of dish, various DSL, and cable for digital access. Lots of choices, and all the companies are always NICE to me. The free market always works...when city government lets it.

Check for DSL competitors to your cable service...DSL service is available a lot farther out of the central locations than it used to be. I'm quite happy with DSL.

Start here, to see what your DSL options are (if any.) Dish data systems are still a bit tricky from what I hear, but it might be worth looking into. DirecTV seems to offer such a service, and if you are already a subscriber, they too might offer you a package deal.