Amazon.com says a sponsorship by AT&T will allow the company to reduce the price of the advertising-supported version of its Kindle 3G to $139.

If you’re keeping score at home — or thinking about finally breaking down and buying one of these things — that’s $25 below the previous $164 price for the ad-supported version of the 3G-enabled e-reader, and $50 below the $189 price of the standard Kindle 3G without advertising.

Amazon announced the AT&T sponsorship this morning — complete with a “big thank you to AT&T” from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos himself for helping to make the lower price happen.

The product is the discount “Kindle with Special Offers,” introduced in April. The “Special Offers” devices include advertising screensavers and special deals that provide an additional revenue stream, helping Amazon lower the price without cutting as much into its bottom line.

Perhaps most notably, the new AT&T-sponsored Kindle 3G is the exact same price as the standard, ad-free, wifi-only Kindle that doesn’t include 3G connectivity. So if you’re willing to put up with some AT&T ads on your screensaver, a Kindle 3G is now effectively the same price as one with wifi only.

The lowest-price Kindle remains the $114 wifi-only “Special Offers” version.

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