The sub-headline on a recent article from Technology Review made us think about something:

“Legislation and industry concessions won’t guarantee equal access to the Internet.”

If we’re talking equal access, the existence of a high speed tier is not the issue. In fact, it’s missing the real issue: As everyone knows, the United States lags behind Western Europe and some key East Asian countries in access to high-speed Internet access.

People like Bill Moyers who prefer to call net neutrality by the phrase “Internet equality” aren’t thinking in this vein. They live in big cities on the coasts, where broadband is plentiful.

Considering that many supporters of net neutrality describe themselves as liberals, and liberals make reducing inequality a defining characteristic, it’s a little perplexing that this esoteric non-issue has become such a cause celebre. Our guess is that fighting for universal broadband offers a less obvious opportunity to rail against big business.

If the net neutrality crowd really wanted to ensure online equality, they would back-burner their theoretical complaints and face up to the non-theoretical fact that many Americans have limited access to the best Internet speeds — if at all.

Build-out of the last mile is massively expensive, years-long undertaking, and it’s the telecommunications industry that’s looking ahead to the future now. That’s the real issue.