According to an article on CNet, the FCC is considering leveling the playing field with dial-up and DSL by charging cable modem service providers an additional tax of 9.1% on their cable modem revenues (said tax getting pushed into the USF).

I find it interesting that a conservative administration with a conservative FCC head would opt to increase taxes in order to make the two technologies equal instead of reducing the taxes on DSL in order to make them both more accessible.

The Universal Service Fund (USF) was established in order to make life for those outside of urban areas nicer by providing funds for the build-out of infrastructure and to subsidize the prices of services in rural areas.

The article also goes into the issue of where we stop taxing information services. If cable is subsumed into the USF tax, it may cause other services to be as well, including satellite and possibly other information services.