If you go down to your local AT&T store to buy a new phone or mobile broadband modem you expect AT&T to subsidize the price of the device in exchange for signing away two years of mobile carrier freedom.

According to a source at Engadget, Radio Shack of all places may be the first company to offer a subsidized 3G enabled netbook. The netbook in question is the Acer Aspire One, already the best selling netbook around right now.

The machine is the Aspire one that you can already purchase at Walmart with the addition of built-in 3G. The netbook will sell for $99 with a two-year agreement on a wireless broadband plan of $60 or more. At that price, the Acer One is cheaper than some of the cellular modems offered at AT&T. The rig runs Windows XP Home if you are worried it’s the Linux version to save money for AT&T.

Engadget