If you paid full price for it it should be unlocked, so any GSM SIM for any carrier will let it activate.
If you didn't, then you (or someone else) owes a carrier money for it, and until that money's paid off, it will remain locked to that carrier's network. Once the contract's paid for, the carrier should be willing to unlock it. It should only need to be on the carrier network for a short time (less than an hour) to activate, after which it shouldn't care too much that it's missing a SIM.
If you bought it out of the back of a truck/bicycle/cafe, then you got ripped off. If that's the case, it's either stolen or defective, and you have a very high-tech paperweight.
no subject
If you didn't, then you (or someone else) owes a carrier money for it, and until that money's paid off, it will remain locked to that carrier's network. Once the contract's paid for, the carrier should be willing to unlock it. It should only need to be on the carrier network for a short time (less than an hour) to activate, after which it shouldn't care too much that it's missing a SIM.
If you bought it out of the back of a truck/bicycle/cafe, then you got ripped off. If that's the case, it's either stolen or defective, and you have a very high-tech paperweight.
(disclaimer: I don't speak for )