Cell phones replacing airlines in the hospitality industry

Traditionally, hotels, airlines, and rental car companies have been considered the heavyweights of the hospitality industry since they compete solely on their level of customer service.  The argument is that there is limited ways to differentiate a Hyatt and Marriott hotel room, and margins are pretty much fixed.  Therefore, a company would gain its competitive edge through hospitality, or exceptional customer service.

Airlines once were considered part of the hospitality industry, but, today, no one would argue that they set any standard for exceptional customer service.  In theory airlines should not have much to compete on: again, margins are fairly fixed, and success is binary (i.e., the plane either lands safely or crashes).  Unfortunately, heavy federal and state government regulation effectively cause an oligopoly in the industry.  The end result is that consumers are usually left with only one option at a reasonable fare.

Interestingly, cell phone carriers (e.g., Verizon, AT&T) appear to be replacing airlines' component in the hospitality industry.  If not already, eventually the service coverage of all carriers will converge, and they will have nothing to compete on other than hospitality.  This already seems to be the case, at least between Sprint and Verizon, who have begun empowering their employees to satisfy customers at all costs.