According to the Boy Genius' Wednesday report, AT&T appears to be gearing up for an increase in the iPhone 3G "no-commitment" price - an option that the company had mentioned about at iPhone 3G's last year launch, but not yet put into practice.

Though the AT&T representatives refrained from commenting on such a move, the report has it that the plan will take shape next week. The new offer will have the iPhone 3Gs priced at $599 or $699, sans the requirement of a new customer-signed two-year contract.

Apple's iPhone is a product line for which AT&T has exclusive US rights, and the company bets heavily on it. Even though the AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson-promoted iPhone strategy has met with huge success, AT&T's heavy subsidization of the popular mobile phone has affected its finances.

No doubt, last year when Apple and AT&T slashed the iPhone's starting price to $199, sales had increased substantially. However, there were people who wanted the iPhone to be free from AT&T and a two-year commitment, even if the initial purchase price was higher.

The proposed high-cost move by AT&T is probably aimed at clearing its iPhone inventory, before Apple's projected launch of a new product in either June or July - an unofficial yearly schedule for iPhone releases!