iPhone question? Is this possible?

Could you buy an iPhone and use it only as an iPod without having to pay for service from AT&T? I would just buy an iPod Touch, however, the new iPhone is a lot cheaper. I would buy service if you could get it from Verizon, not just AT&T. So my question is, could you buy an iPhone, not pay for service, and still be able to listen to music and videos, and look at and take pictures?