iMore

If I bought an AT&T phone in the US from the AT&T store but never activated it, can I use it with Sprint?

Is there any advantage in buying from the Apple store over AT&T in terms of being able to use the phone with more carriers?

I'm buying the phone for my mom. She'll probably use it as an ipod for a while but maybe someday use it as an actual phone. She'll probably want to stick with AT&T (which is what her current non-data phone is with) but wanted to know if she could choose some other carrier if I got the phone from an AT&T store.

Thanks.