Can a iphone 4 be activated with a t-mobile sim card

I just recieved a att iphone 4 as a gift. I restored and updated it so it could be like new but when i was going through the activation process the message "activation request could not be completed. if the problem persists, please contact costomer care." came up. It has been stuck on this screen and i was wondering if the reason behind this was because i did not put a sim card into the phone. I have a t-mobile sim card that i was planning on cutting to make into a micro-sim. will my t-mobile sim work to activate it?