Transfer of number from 1st gen iPhone to 3GS took about 2 minutes here.
Apparently Rogers is having some of the same issues here in Canada (or Calgary at least). Was at the Rogers store today and they said that many of the 32GB iPhones are not activating right now.
seemed like my activation was hanging.......then I ejected the SIM card with the little tool in the packaging and replaced it and the phone activated immediately - worth a try - TC
Same deal here in the UK. Ejecting and reinserting worked - I had put the SIM in whilst the phone was powered off too.
That said my MMS still hasn't been activated, but I imagine it will be before the AT&T ones are- O2 texted me to say about 2-3 days at most.
Then to sort out tethering - and all is good.
For the two phones I picked up at the AT&T store, and for a friend's phone that came via UPS from the Apple store, restarting did the trick.