New iPhone

my mate bought an iphone off someone. i have got it to try and activate it. it is 2.2.1 software. but because he has put his new own O2 sim in it there is just a msg on the screen saying it need to activate it and it will take some time. ive had it connected to my mac laptop for about an hour and it says the same msg. any help plz. do i need to unlock it for him even though it is an O2 sim? ive searched on net but it dosent seem you can unlock and iphone 3g with 2.2.1 is this right? thanks

You should really just try calling customer service and asking for help.... or maybe visit an Apple store and discretely ask one of the geniuses there....

With new iPhones it is necessary to go in thru iTunes to get it started - have you tried going into iTunes.

And do you have an iTunes account? i already had one so sorting the iPhone was simple