Have you ever tried to send operator logos and ringtones to a mobile phone? It's a mess!
I mean, it's not just that there are numerous different standards and specifications, but you're not even supposed to follow them!
Then of course, there is the madness with the operator and network codes that don't have anything meaningful to do with the real world (like area codes, for example). Not only that, but they also came up with an unbelievable encoding never seen before, the "Reverse little-endian BCD filled with F16"!
Seriously, with a history like this, it's no wonder the WAP specifications are such a horrible creation, too. How many protocol layers can you stack on a simple 140 byte SMS message?
Please... Let the IP guys handle this stuff in the future!