[awelkie]

I think the miserable state of cellular modems ultimately comes from the power dynamics of private spectrum. The 3GPP protocols are complex because they're not really beholden to the implementers, but rather to the network operators. The operators are fine with additional complexity if it serves their interests, and the cost will just be passed on to the OEMs. The network operators have all the power because they're the ones with the licenses.

WiFi tends to be simpler in part because the protocol authors are working more in the interest of the implementers, since it's really they who decide whether to adopt or not. Obviously a gross simplification but I think it's at the heart of the problem.

[dilyevsky]

Vendors wrote those standards though, not the operators. They are complex because it’s a defensive moat against competition imho

[tinktank]

They are complex because, usually, they are a union of everything every vendor in the consortium has done and/or wants to do.