Any day now, the Federal Communications Commission will officially publish its final order mandating net neutrality—rules that prohibit the cable and telephone giants that control broadband access to the Internet from blocking or throttling traffic, from setting up paid fast lanes for certain content providers, and from otherwise discriminating against services they don't own (like Netflix) to advantage those they do (like Comcast's Xfinity On Demand).

The FCC's action is popular: More than 4 million people wrote to the FCC demanding net neutrality, and polling suggests that more than 80 percent of Americans support rules against blocking, discriminating against, slowing down, or charging for Internet traffic.

But lost in the fight over net neutrality is one key issue for consumers: The market for broadband access just isn't competitive. And unless the FCC quickly pivots away from net neutrality, the policy could become a stumbling block in the way of true reform.