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Well, at least it seems as though we’re making progress. Yesterday I wrote about growing discontent among consumers with the “deal with the devil” Apple made to lock the iPhone to AT&T for a period of five years.

Now, The Washington Post reports that AT&T will begin selling the iPhone to users who would like to use it with a different carrier—that is, if they are willing to pay three times as much for the smartphone; a whopping $599. This is the original price of the iPhone when it was launched.

Apple’s popular iPhone can be yours, no contract required. But there’s a catch—and a pricey one at that.

AT&T yesterday announced that it will offer the smartphone to people who want to use another carrier, starting at $599.

The iPhone 3G, scheduled for a July 11 release, will be available for $199 to new AT&T customers or existing customers eligible for an upgrade—under a two-year contract. The larger-capacity 16-gigabyte model will cost $299 under the same conditions.

For those looking to use another carrier, the 16-gigabyte version will cost $699.

This news comes on the heels of AT&T’s announcement that it will be raising rates on their iPhone plans to $70 per month for the most bare bones plan. If these comments by readers of The Post are any indication, AT&T’s price hikes will probably hurt Apple’s iPhone 3G sales at least a little bit.

“Was going to join the line at midnight,” wrote one commenter responding to a Washington Post blog post about the price plans. “Now won’t get one at all.”

“I will just have to swallow the price hike,” wrote another.

Via [The Washington Post]