Hi Jodi
There's two parts to connecting to a wireless phone network - the phone, and the network. The SIM card is a uniquely numbered ID chip that facilitates your phone
- Connecting to the network, and
- Identifying who you are and what account you're associated with.
If the phone is saying SIM card not provisioned, that likely means that the card is not associated with an account with the network. When your friend sold you the phone, they will almost certainly have updated their account so that that particular phone is no longer on the account. (Unless they were intending for you to be on their account after you bought the phone)
In that likely case, you'll need to contact the carrier, either on another phone or at one of the carrier's brick & mortar store fronts, and talk to them about associating the phone with an account. If you already have an account there, it'll likely just be a matter of registering / activating the phone, and possibly putting a new SIM card in it. Likely as not, some activation fees so that they can extract money from you. If you don't have an account there, you'll need to set one up and select plans, as needed, for voice, messaging, and data. Depending on the phone type, it may be usable on several networks. There are a couple of different network protocols, and the phone hardware will generally be built for one type. An AT&T phone, for instance, will not work on Verizon, since the network protocols are different.
I hope this gets you headed in the right direction!
Happy Holidays
D
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