Such is the Hobson's Choice that Apple faced when it decided to enter the phone business.

Despite fevered speculation of some regarding spectrum auctions and whatnot, Apple had to partner with a cellular service provider -- evil as they all are -- to get the iPhone out, at least to more than a few brave souls, the kind who would homestead in unknown electromagnetic territory for a service many see as vital as, say, breathing.

But though Apple is a gentleman of a partner, never talking about what went on between the sheets, other partner's aren't as discreet.

So, Apple has to deal with people like AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega, who says things, according to Gizmodo, like this.

Not that we all weren't expecting a 3G iPhone eventually, especially as AT&T and other carriers continued to build out their 3G infrastructure. Said infrastructure, at the time of the initial iPhone launch, reached, I believe, about 14 people in San Jose (California, not Puerto Rico).

The timing is about what we'd expect from an Apple marketing standpoint, too, what with the company's big summer event, WWDC, scheduled for early June. (MacRumor's useful Buyer's Guide usually gives good hints, though the iPhone's case is stymied by February's RAM boost.) Apple CEO Steve Jobs could use the event to showcase a 3G iPhone's increased bandwidth and how developers -- who may by then be working full-bore with the iPhone SDK -- could use that to go back to the previous "Web 2.0" model for applications.

Add to that reports coming from about everywhere that iPhone stocks are or are close to depleted. If that's not a major screw-up, and someone's head isn't rolling off of Jobs' desk this very moment, it's a good clue that Apple's clearing the channel for a new model. Maybe even sooner than WWDC.

Does this mean you should turn back from your trek, which you're on at this very moment, to go buy a new iPhone? No. The 3G networks are still sparse; many tests have shown bandwidth boosts over the current system to be questionable (jeez, I have trouble getting reliable phone service in downtown San Francisco and Oakland with AT&T as it is) and the promise of "real" iPhone apps that don't require a live connection is pretty alluring.

No word from Apple how Jobs is taking the talking by his new partners. But Cal Tech geologists have tracked tremors from Palo Alto (Jobs' hometown) that are consistent with a massive grinding of teeth every night.

(Note: All this applies to North America only. You people in Europe and Asia were on the ball early on, standardizing cellular network standards, and have much better systems than we backward folk.)