In not so unexpected news, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson confirmed that a 3G capable iPhone will be launched in 2008.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, already announced in June this year that the Cupertino company is working on a 3G version of its wonder-gadget. During a press conference in London, Steve Jobs said the 3G technology is not yet good enough for the iPhone's batteries. The Apple CEO confirmed though that a 3G iPhone could be unveiled as early as next year.

“Our phone has eight hours of talk time life. That's really important when you start to use the internet and want to use the phone to listen to music. We've got to see the battery lives for 3G get back up into the five-plus hour range. Hopefully we'll see that late next year", Jobs said.

Still, Jobs didn’t said when exactly we should expect the device or how much it will cost.

Randall Stephenson wasn’t able to reveal too many details about the 3G iPhone. “You'll have it next year,'' Stephenson said in response to a question about when the 3G iPhone would debut. But the price will be dictated by Steve Jobs.

A 3G iPhone was requested especially by the European mobile carriers. In Europe, business users and consumers in 18 of the EU 25 countries are benefiting from commercial 3G services, and network deployments are underway in another 4 countries. Generally speaking, 3G networks are ubiquitous in Europe, whereas the US has focused its attention on the Wi-Fi networks. There are of course 3G networks in the US too (AT&T, which holds exclusive distribution rights for Apple’s iPhone has one, but coverage isn't quite up to Verizon's and Sprint's levels).

So it’s no wonder that Apple’s interest would be to have a 3G iPhone for Europe, as the company hopes to sell 10 million units by the end of 2008.

A 3G iPhone with 16 MB of storage was widely rumored before Apple announced the launch of its device in Europe.

Also in September this year Apple disclosed patent licensing agreement with Wireless technology firm InterDigital Inc., for 3G technologies, that is "covering the current iPhone and certain future mobile phones, if any."

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris has refused to comment on the new iPhone, but some analysts said that it could be unveiled during the next MacWorld event.

Of course, the revelation made by the AT&T chief could hurt iPhone’s holiday sales, so maybe Apple should issue a statement to clarify when we should expect the 3G iPhone.