hints on setting up usb cdma modem?

I'm running current and after many failed attempts to setup my Novatel
U727, I'm posting here with whatever information could be of interest.

When the modem is plugged in:

umass0: <Novatel Wireless Inc. Novatel Wireless CDMA, class 0/0, rev 1.10/0.00,
addr 2> on uhub3
cd0 at umass-sim0 bus 0 target 0 lun 0
cd0: <Novatel Mass Storage 1.00> Removable CD-ROM SCSI-2 device
cd0: 1.000MB/s transfers
cd0: Attempt to query device size failed: NOT READY, Medium not present

My usbd.conf:
21:21:46 $ cat /etc/usbd.conf
device "Novatel"
     devname "ucom0"
     vendor 0x1410
     product 0x4100

attach "/usr/sbin/ppp -auto novatel"
detach "/usr/sbin/pppctl /var/run/ppp/novatel-ppp quit all"

Avery now and then, I see some of these messages:

umass0: at uhub3 port 1 (addr 2) disconnected
(cd0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): lost device
(cd0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): removing device entry
umass0: detached
umass0: <Novatel Wireless Inc. Novatel Wireless CDMA, class 0/0, rev 1.10/0.00,
addr 2> on uhub3
da0 at umass-sim0 bus 0 target 0 lun 0
da0: <Novatel MMC Storage 2.31> Removable Direct Access SCSI-2 device
da0: 1.000MB/s transfers
da0: Attempt to query device size failed: NOT READY, Medium not present

My /etc/ppp/ppp.conf:

novatel:
 set device /dev/ucom0
 set speed 115200
 set phone "#777"           # 1 refers to CID
 set dial "ABORT BUSY ABORT NO\\sCARRIER TIMEOUT 5 \
            \"\" AT OK-AT-OK ATE1Q0 OK \\dATDT\\T TIMEOUT 40 CONNECT"
 enable dns
 set authname wap
 set authkey wap
 accept PAP
 set login
 add default HISADDR
 set ifaddr 10.0.0.1/0 10.0.0.2/0 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0
 disable ipv6cp
 disable mppe
 set reconnect 3 15