I feel like an idiot asking this question but once I've unlocked the phone (which was easy by the way) how do I go about the whole selecting a carrier. It's a bit complicated because I am in Iraq serving with the military. I actually thought about not unlocking it and paying for 'go-phone' minutes while I am over here. I am VERY new to the iphone world...actually just got my phone today so please help if you can. I have Verizon back home and had hoped to use it on the Verizon network if possible. Any inforamtion will help. Thanks.

If its an "officially unlocked" iphone 3G, you can select to any other operators.

Otherwise read this --> http://hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49850

How can I tell if it's officially unlocked...I restored the phone withe the pwnage software and it seems like it's in a different 'state' than it was when I took it out of the box and turned it on. Originally I hooked it to Itunes 8.0 and got it registered then I ran the pwnage 'jailbreak'. I guess I am not sure what I should do. Do I call Verizon and try to get it to work on their international network (for which they do use SIM cards)? I guess I am not sure what the next step should be.

I dont live in the states so am not 100% sure, but isn't Verizon a cdma network? If so you cannot use the iphone with it, will only work on a gsm network (sim cards) like AT&T or T-mobile.

Originally Posted by hoodabaga

How can I tell if it's officially unlocked...I restored the phone withe the pwnage software and it seems like it's in a different 'state' than it was when I took it out of the box and turned it on. Originally I hooked it to Itunes 8.0 and got it registered then I ran the pwnage 'jailbreak'. I guess I am not sure what I should do. Do I call Verizon and try to get it to work on their international network (for which they do use SIM cards)? I guess I am not sure what the next step should be.

What's the Model number of your iPhone?
You can either check from the Box or from Settings --> General --> About
The you need to refer to Apple website and see whether the Model number belongs to an official "unlocked" Carrier supported by Apple or not.

Model number...do I MB048L

I went to the apple website...what do you mean i need to check to see if it's unlocked. Where/what do I need to check? I don't see an option for that