Will an unactivated iPhone work?

I believe I have found a way to get a new never activated 32gb iPhone 4S for free! However, with the expense of iPhones, I couldn't possibly pay service for it. Would it work like an iPod? If so, would GPS work? It could still use Wi-Fi right, it would just say no sim card in the top left corner? I don't know, please answer.

Yes it should work like an iPod