This ordering was chosen because UUCP does it this way, and I wanted to avoid confusion here. In some cases, the modem can get stuck in a mode where it won't react to a simple AT command. Usually this happens because the modem is set to ignore a DTR drop and still has a data connection to the other side. If you use a voice modem, it could be stuck in voice mode. In these situations, the normal init-chat will time out, because the modem won't send the proper responses back.
Some modems have the nasty tendency to crash silently.
If not, mgetty will restart itself and do a full modem reset. Default is 1. Don't forget to set rings to at least 2, otherwise the CID grabbing code won't work. This is the command sequence that is used to answer a phone call. Don't use it.