Plus ca change.. I was involved with a remote access project with a division of BT a few years back, when we were asked about what devices to support mobile data people wanted. As they couldnt supply a phone with any capabilities, their idea of the way forward was a rebadged modem, then a rebadged PCMCIA GSM card, then something to help the PDA users out. As a "Dilbert" measure, they were also interested in using a WAP interface, because it was a buzzword.
Mobile telcos are merely voice companies whose phones happen to move. We had the hugest argument with Vodafone about getting them to offer a "taster" £50 a month GPRS trial to our customers for mobile data, when its a guaranteed £50 ARPU for three months. sigh..