IPhone still tied to AT

AT&T; Inc. said Tuesday that it would start selling the speedier versions of Apple Inc.’s iPhone on July 11, and that at some point in the future people would be able to buy the gadgets without a two-year service contract.

The wireless carrier, which for now has exclusive rights to sell the iPhone, said it would charge $599 or $699 (depending on the amount of memory in the phone) for versions of the phone without a contract.

Understandably, some of the Web world took it to suggest that the phone might be usable on other carriers. But it won’t, AT&T; spokesman Wes Warnock said.

The new iPhone 3G also can be had for $199 for the 8-gigabyte version and $299 for the 16-gigabyte version, with a two-year AT&T; contract. AT&T; is subsidizing the cheaper versions.

Although paying an extra $400 for an iPhone gets you out of committing to a two-year contract, it doesn’t get you out of having to use AT&T.; That’s a lot of money, more than double the current maximum cancellation fee of $175 for breaking a two-year deal.

So why is AT&T; planning to offer the option?

“Some people just don’t want to be hooked in,” Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney said.