Link your application against the CoreTelephony.framework
You can check the CTCarrier object and see if you've a valid result (!=nil) for some property that require a connection with the Phone Provider.
For example, below there's a snip of code that check against the mobileNetworkCode property of CTCarrier. This property is != nil if-and-only-if the device is connected to a Phone Provider (your desired task, user able to make a phone call, is included in the state described above).
CTTelephonyNetworkInfo *netInfo = [[CTTelephonyNetworkInfo alloc] init];
CTCarrier *carrier = [netInfo subscriberCellularProvider];
//The value for this property is nil if any of the following apply:
// - The device is in Airplane mode.
// - There is no SIM card in the device.
// - The device is outside of cellular service range.
NSString *mnc = [carrier mobileNetworkCode];
if(!mnc) {
//if we're here, than probably we're disconnected from the Phone Provider
}
netInfo.subscriberCellularProviderDidUpdateNotifier = ^ (CTCarrier * carrier) {
//this block is executed each time we've a change to the state of the carrier
//be sure to check the carrier object, in order to see is we're connected to a
//phone provider.
};
more info at the Apple Developer Documentation url: http://developer.apple.com/library/IOs/#documentation/NetworkingInternet/Reference/CTCarrier/Reference/Reference.html