Can I use an iPhone SE without activating it?

[tim6298]

So I upgraded a phone on one of the lines on my account, the goal is to give this to my mom as a xmas gift. My question is, can I turn the phone, download some apps and basically have it set for her when we give it to her next weekend but not have the phone service part of it activated until then?

Its been awhile since Ive upgraded to a new phone so fuzzy on the steps when getting a new one.

[Weth · Accepted solution]

Temporarily set up the phone with a SIM card from another phone in the SE and once set up take the SIM out and put it back in the original phone.