Isn't the point of open standards that these companies don't have to work together explicitly? e.g. I don't think Vodafone has to work with Apple directly; they just have to make their HSDPA dongle to spec. And Apple has to implement the USB comms stack to spec. Similarly, as long as Facebook follows the HTML and related specs (yeah, I know, easier said than done) and the browser manufacturers implement the same, the customer should get the proper experience (you don't mention which browser was running, but that's kind of the point). The only one that's interesting from an explicit collaboration point of view is Vodafone and the train company, because you've got real geography involved. Vodafone presumably has significant capital outlay in placing towers within range of GWR (as do other mobile operators). Still, this is mostly Vodafone's problem: while it's in GWR's best interest to ensure that their passengers can receive HSDPA signals throughout their journey, they are probably best off making the route plans and other data available to all cell site operators, not just Vodafone. So I would say the answer is not businesses working more together on a one-to-one basis, but generally businesses being more open about sharing data and using standard specifications. The customer service issue is a separate one. It will be difficult for any of the parties to remotely diagnose an issue the user is having if it's something like "the Facebook page isn't loading". Customer service is a cost, and it's hard to say if the Nordstrom model of offering customer service for the whole experience would be beneficial in this case (i.e., does that model only work face to face, in-store, or would it work via call centre?). It would be beneficial to the user, of course, but would it build brand goodwill to the business enough to compensate for the cost? Perhaps a better alternative is an insurance-like service that users could subscribe to that gave them 3rd-party customer service that covered all their devices/software/connections, a bit like the AA but for technology.