Buying a cel phone in Italy

Ran,
A cheap phone bought in Italy will usually have just two bands so it will work in most of the world except North America.

Hi-
I was in Italy for 4 months (in 2006) and bought a pay as you go phone. My one piece of advice is to make sure that it is easy to "reload" with more minutes. The phone I got through TIM (italian cell phone company) I could only buy more minutes by going to the location I orginally signed up for the plan at. Fortunately, I was living in Milan so this was not a big deal- but for someone planning to travel around the country this would be a huge issue. Also, at the time it was cheaper to text message than to buy minutes- just another thing to keep in mind and ask about.

I can't remember how much it was per minute- but I do remember it was pretty expensive. Granted, this was 2006 so pricing could be more economical now.

Ran,

"Keep the phone when you leave, if its unlocked, you can use it at home with a Pay/Go SIM card"

As Henry pointed out, that's not entirely true. Some phones sold in Europe will only be equipped with the European frequencies, which means they WON'T work in North America (which uses two different frequency bands).

The cost for "minutes" on a PAYG phone will vary depending on which "package" you choose at the time of purchase. Most Cell networks offer a variety of packages and customers can choose the one that best fits their expected calling pattern (ie: most calls made at night during off-peak times, etc.).

You shouldn't have any difficulty topping-up the minutes, however it's important that you clarify the method for topping-up when you buy the phone. In some cases you'll be able to buy cards at a Tabac or other local shops, and you may also be able to top-up at ATM's. If you're in larger centres, there are usually LOTS of Cell phone shops so you could also go to the shop of the network you choose.

One other option you could consider would be one of the "travel phone" firms such as Call In Europe, Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Mobal or Telestial. They can supply inexpensive phones for purchase or rental, and that way you'll be ready to go as soon as you land in Europe. One advantage of these is that the plans are usually post paid which means you'll never "run out of minutes" in the middle of a call.

I always travel with a Cell phone, and tend to use text messaging as much as possible as it's much cheaper.

Note that when buying a Cell phone or PAYG plan especially in Italy, you'll probably be required to provide your Passport and be "registered". That's also true for Internet use (not usually required at Hotel computers, as they already have your Passport details on file).

Happy travels!