AT&T CEO Spills Beans on Faster Apple iPhone

"You'll have it next year," AT&T chief Randall Stephenson said At an event at the Churchhill Club in Santa Clara, Calif Wednesday night. He would not divulge additional information on pricing, saying Apple CEO Steve Jobs "will dictate what the price of the phone is." The current model sells for $399 in the U.S.

AT&T currently has a 5-year exclusive distribution deal with Apple for the right to sell the iPhone in the U.S.

Jobs previously discounted the use of 3G capable phones in the first generation of iPhones, saying that chipsets for the faster technology were "power hogs," diminishing battery life faster than acceptable.

Apple has said it will sell 10 million iPhones in 2008. After its launch in the U.S. earlier this year, the made its debut in Europe with carriers in the UK, Germany and France.

The phone had sold 1.4 million units in the U.S. through the end of September.

The iPhone combines the functions of a cell phone, an iPod media player, and a wireless Internet browser. Users can operate the unit by using a touch screen to move through menus.