AT&T chief live at conference: we're gearing up for best iPhone experience on Day One

I'm blogging live from NXTComm, the telecom industry trade show being held in Chicago this week.

The morning keynotes have just fired up. First is newly installed (June 3) AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson.

It's under Stephenson's watch that AT&T Mobility is teaming up with Apple to launch the iPhone a week from this Friday.

"You may have heard about this," Stephenson said as a large photo of the iPhone appeared on the screens flanking him on the left and right.

"There are a lot of good reasons for excitement about the iPhone," Stephenson said. "We believe(the iPhone) is the embodiment of innovation. It is sleek, fun, and is going to be a game changer not only for us but for the (wireless) industry."

"We are gearing up for this (iPhone launch June 29) big time," Stephenson added. "We've expedited (the changeover of Cingular stores) to AT&T, and are hiring hundreds of new employees, and (upgrading networks) to gear up and provide our best user experiences on day one."

Stephenson added that around one million enquiries about the iPhone have been received on the AT&T Mobility site, with some 40% coming from non-AT&T subscribers.