Most areas in the US have many ISPs to choose from. We don't have to buy our internet from the local phone company. For instance, I have internet from Speakeasy even though AT&T (formerly SBC) owns the actual wires. Of course I can get AT&T's service but I prefer Speakeasy's features and unrestricted ports. It's a bit more expensive but I run my FTP server from home with no problems. There are also lots of dialup services to choose from all over the country. There are some exceptions in rural areas where most of the big ISPs don't offer service, but that's chaging quickly with newer technology coming online.
There are also the cable TV companies offering broadband. Most of them offer their own internet service, however Time Warner will let you pick from several ISP such as AOL and Earthlink, or you can use TWC's RoadRunner.
AT&T offers basic dynamic DSL 1.5/384 (I might be wrong on the upload) for around $15 US per month, no volume cap. The actual speeds vary due to different wire conditions and distance from the CO (Central Office). Here locally AT&T is installing fiber into neighborhoods, and Verizon is running FIOS in it's coverage areas, so those speed differences are diminishing. Yes I'm sure some of the difference between advertised and actual is just number fudging by the companies involved. So far I haven't seen major discrepancies, either in my own service or anybody I know who has broadband, cable or DSL. I'll take that minor discrepancy over a monthly volume cap any day. No disrespect intended,but I wonder why Australians tolerate such nonsense.