AT&T, the US mobile operator, has let slip that it expects to offer an upgraded version of Apple’s iPhone, which runs on a faster 3G network, next year.

Randall Stephenson, the AT&T chief executive, appears to have inadvertently spilled the news during a dinner last night at the Churchill Club in Santa Clara.

Industry observers had widely expected Apple to develop a 3G iPhone but the famously secretive company had declined to comment on timing.

Apple’s first foray into the mobile market currently runs on 2.5G networks, or in AT&T’s case, its relatively slow EDGE system – a factor that means web browsing on the device is sluggish compared to many of its smartphone peers.

It has been suggested that the news may hit iPhone sales as consumers, already increasingly reluctant to spend in the wake of a global credit crunch, hold off buying the device until the new model is released.

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