FYI, the new Mokkula from DNA works with GNU/Linux. It’s in fact Huawei E1692, not Huawei E180! You have to use the USB_ModeSwitch utility and add the following to the /etc/usb_modeswitch.conf:
# Huawei E1692 DefaultVendor= 0x12d1 DefaultProduct= 0x1446 MessageContent="55534243000000000000000000000011060000000000000000000000000000"
then run:
$ sudo usb_modeswitch
and you should have a working mobile broadband modem instead of a $180 80MB USB storage stick.
The next Ubuntu release, Karmic Koala, will have usb_modeswitch installed by default which will improve the user experience for many many people. Udev will handle the switch automatically so that the expensive modems just work 
Thank you, this was crucial information that I couldn’t find elsewhere.
This udev rule works for me, making things automatic-like:
$ cat /etc/udev/rules.d/10-local.rules
SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, SYSFS{idVendor}==”12d1″, SYSFS{idProduct}==”1446″, RUN+=”/usr/sbin/usb_modeswitch –default-vendor 0x12d1 –default-product 0×1446 –message-content 55534243000000000000000000000011060000000000000000000000000000″