Is the IPAD locked to AT&T

No.

It's not locked to AT&T, though it comes with an AT&T micro sim in the US.

Here is some preliminary info about some European data plans: http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-no-overseas-ipad-but-vodafone-orange-o2-ann ounce-price-plans/

What other SIM could I use, because AT&T has told me that I shouldn't have been able to buy one, since I won't be able to activate it given where I live - just 8 miles south of Concord, the capital city of New Hampshire?

There are no other carriers in the U.S. that support/provide a micro-SIM card for the iPad along with a data only plan for the iPad or for a similar device that uses a micro-SIM for data/internet access only - not at the present time anyway.

The iPad is compatible with GSM networks. The only other GSM carrier in the U.S. that comes close to AT&T in terms of the number of subscribers and network coverage is T-Mobile, and T-Mobile's 3G network is not compatible with the iPhone 3G/3GS with the iPad, but their EDGE network is which is much slower. T-Mobile in the U.S. may eventually support this with an iPad 3G.

hi allan, do you think that ipad will be compatible with the gsm network here in the philippines? i really want to buy a ipad 3G, but somebody told me that i might not be able to use the 3G function here in the philippines. is the ipad 3G locked with certain providers only?

Hello.

You need to ask your carrier in the Philippines this question. Do they support/provide or plan to support/provide a micro-SIM card for the iPad or for similar type devices that use a micro-SIM card along with having a data plan only for internet access via the carrier's network.

As of right now, these are the countries with a carrier or carriers that will support this with the iPad.

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/04/20ipad.html

iPad will be available at the end of May in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Apple will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders for iPad on May 10.

As with the iPhone, the list of countries along with carriers that will support it should increase over time.

Why can't you use ATT? I used to live about 12 miles south of Concord and my iPhone worked fine.

The town I live is in the Southwest of Concord, and a few neighborhoods on elevated grounds do have 3G coverage. I'm like three hundred yards away from one of those spots.

You can still use Edge for data. If the iPad is in an area without 3G, it connects using the Edge network just like the iPhone does.

Sure, once I have managed to overcome the fact that AT&T has blocked my zip code from signing up altogether.

I see the issue. Portions of the south and west of Concord aren't ATT but must be Unicel. Is your work address in Concord or an ATT coverage area?

Yes, that's what I'm trying to use now with a new cc.

I am currently in Hong Kong and using the 3G version just fine. There are no micro-sim carriers in Hong Kong at this stage. So I just simply carefully trim the original sim card's size down to a micro-sim size.

The next step will be changing the APN settings which should be provided by your carrier. I am connected via Vodafone's HSDPA network at about 4-5Mbps download speed and 1Mbps upload speed. Hope this helps folks!

Hi,

As you are in HK and no issue with HK carrier sim, is your iPad 3G from US?

Just want to clarify 🙂

Thx!