Ok, I have been searching far and wide and I still can't find a complete list of which mobile carriers can be unlocked on the iphone. I have been toying with the idea of selling my 16gb touch for a ridiculous price that no informed consumer will pay and buying an iPhone. However, I will only get one it can be unlocked to run virgin mobile. I keep hearing talk about gsm and sim or something like that. I'm an iPhone klutz (and sort of a touch klutz). Can someone make things clear for me?

No, virgin moible doesn't support the 'sim card'

You can only use the iphone for ; T-moible and Cingular

Damn! Can anyone confirm this? My parents have sworn off T-mobile and I don't think they like Cingular either because it's too expensive.

Any carrier with a SIM card. Yo could get GoPhone, they are run by AT&T but its pay-as-you-go

Ugh!!! DAMN YOU APPLE!!! DAMN YOU AT&T!!!!! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!!!!

I think I'm gonna go egg the nearest AT&T store. I can't even come close to affording their ridiculous prices and everyone else in my family runs Virgin Mobile. They don't want to have to deal with 2 different plans.

I know that what AT&T and Apple are doing isn't technically a monopoly since the iphone isn't really big enough to be called an industry but this is a pretty effiecient way to screw millions of people. How does the CEO sleep at night?

if you but an iphone and run ziphone software on it you can jailbreak it and unlock it for any network i have tryed it if many different carriers including virgin mobile if you need any help pm me

Virgin mobile would not work. They use Sprints towers which are CDMA.

you can only use the GSM networks and you may have to cut your card which means literally cutting the shape of your sim card to fit (mainly for those in the UK)

some services use CDMA broadcasting as JustinCarpenter said, so you may have to research particular companies and find one thats GSM and your parents agree with/can afford.

My parents won't switch from Verizon which makes an iPhone impossible for me :'(