AT&T cell phone in Italy

I use my iphone with AT&T all over Europe. However, I don't make phone calls. Now I just use facetime when I need to call home with free wi-fi at hotels. That being said, the AT&T service works great in Italy. You will notice the company name will change based on where you are. Different cell towers, etc. If you plan to use your phone, get an international plan before you go for the month. You can cancel when you get home. And, if you only plan to use your phone for about 15- 20 minutes or less, that should cost you about the same as if you paid for the international plan for a month. All depends on what you plan to use your phone for...are you calling home, or calling ahead to hotels? Or calling someone else in Europe?

Yuriy, How long are you going to be in Italy? Are you wanting to use your phone for calls? I would use my smartphone for wifi (but make sure you have the phone on airplane mode so you can't be charged for data!). I would not use it for calls. If you are planning on making calls with your phone, it might be worth it to purchase (in the US or Italy) an unlocked phone. You can then buy a SIM card in Italy (I used TIM, but there are other companies too) and go the prepaid route, loading your SIM card account with Euros and refilling when needed. When I lived in Italy in 2011, I was able to call the United States for 0.12€ / minute (with ~ a 0.30€ charge for each call placed). Very cheap! It is easy to purchase and reload your account: you can find TIM stores in airports, train stations and many cities and you can also reload your account at Tabacchi all over Italy.

Follow Devon's advice. Get an old cheap phone and get it unlocked at a store. Or buy a cheap unlocked one. I had my old Motorola Razr unlocked for $25 at a store in the SF Bay Area. Once you get to Italy buy a local SIM card (with an Italian number) and use it. They are prepaid plans. You just purchase and recharge it with more minutes when you deplete it. I have a Vodafone SIM card. To call within Italy it's just a few cents. To call from that phone to the US it's not much more than maybe 30 euro-cents/minute. I also have At&t as my provider in the US. Using your AT&t to call the US will cost you $1.29 per minute in roaming charges (or $0.99 if you purchase their international plan). To call an Italian number with your AT&T will cost you a bunch because its like calling Italy from the US plus the above roaming charges on top of that. If you forget to switch your smart phone to airplane mode, you roaming data charges will kill you. My wife did not know that 3 years ago when she first got a smart phone, and although she never used her phone except for a few minutes of voice calls (she used her Italian cell phone for most of the time), the data roaming charges alone for one month in Italy were almost $600 (AT&T must have great profits thanks to international travelers unaware of these scams). Last year she used it in airplane mode, but still AT&T charged her $200 in data roaming (she complained and AT&T reversed the charges. Now when we go overseas, my wife turns her smartphone off when we take off and turns it back on only when we land back in the US, for fear of another data roaming charge. I simply leave mine at home. My old Italian Vodafone Razr works perfectly in the US as well if I need it between home and the airport, and Vodafone international roaming charges are low. US cell phone providers are criminal Ponzi scheme organizations worse than Bernie Madoff.

Yurly, It would help to have some idea on what you plan to use the phone for? To begin with, check with AT&T for information on their roaming plans and "travel packs". Your basic choices are: (1.) Use your Smartphone - three options: (a) Roam with AT&T - if you buy travel packs and just use the phone for limited voice calls and texting, this can be a reasonably cost effective method. You'll have to be VERY CAREFUL with data use, as the costs can be HUGE. You might want to disable cellular data and just use Wi-Fi. (b) Get your Smartphone unlocked and use with a SIM purchased in Europe. This will provide the cheapest rates, especially for in-country calls and texts. Calls back to the U.S. will be more expensive, depending on which plan you choose. Menus and voice instructions may be in Italian. This will be on a PAYG plan, so you'll have to top-up when your minutes are depleted. (c) Get your Smartphone unlocked and use with a SIM from one of the firms in Option (2b) below. (2.) Use a cheap "basic" phone as the others have suggested, from E-Bay or wherever. Two good models are the Motorola V-551 or RAZR, as both are reliable - two options: (a) Use with a SIM purchased in Europe. Again, this will be on a PAYG plan so you'll be topping-up when you run out of minutes. (b) Use with a SIM from one of the travel phone firms, such as Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Call In Europe, Telestial, Mobal, EuroBuzz, One SIM or Max Roam. These often come with a U.K. number and have consistent rates in many European countries. Some have post-paid billing with calls charged to a credit card, so no need to top up. Also note that you may need to have a Codice Fiscale to buy a SIM in Italy, and PAYG plans may not include data. Happy travels!

Thanks a lot to all you guys!

Yuriy, go to the AT&T web site, and you will find a section explaining exactly how to shut off/turn on data in the EU, how to monitor the amount that you use, how to buy a text, or calling package. etc. Make sure that you read and understand this, or you can have big charges on your phone when you come home!( a la Roberto's wife) If you call them after you read this they can help you with any questions that you may have. I took my AT&T cell phone to Europe, and had no problems. BUT, I shut off my data and signed up for a Low? cost talk and text plan. I used wi-fi to access the internet, or to make lo-cost or free calls using Skype. Any time I found a wi-fi hot spot, I checked my mail, sent pics back home, and made calls, etc.