cell phone in Italy

too much

Do you have ATT or TMobile service currently?
If you do you can take your phone for free to Italy and use it. Price per minute is around $1.99 but you have your regular phone number with you. It costs nothing for your friends and family to call you although you still pay the per minute charge on your end.

Just call ATT or Tmobile and ask them to turn on international use. It is free. They do this to prevent fraud.
Then hop on the plane and turn your phone on when you land. Nothing else to do after that. When calling back to the US just dial +(area)999-9999. No need to know country codes or access codes. To get a plus sign you press and hold zero.

Those phone rental services are a scam. They work but cost alot in the end. I used cellhire and if you the Orange network in France they charged me $10 per minute for the call. Plus your friends and family would have to call an international number, ie 011-23-232342342 to call you. Usually a number from the UK.

I haven't used this company, but I am thinking about using them when we go in aug. It looks like you can buy a phone with $20 prepaid minutes for $49.95. It looks it is .99 a minute for calls in Italy.

http://www.telestial.com/

Nancy,
I bought a phone in Italy from TIM. 39 euro included the phone, SIM and 5 euro talk time. Incoming calls free, local calls about.12 euro a minute and calls to the U.S. about.60 euro a minute. I think this may be cheaper than any rental deal if you are going to be there for 10 days or so.

This comes up so often I wrote an article about it. See:

http://lodgephoto.com/blog/?p=12

A local pre-paid phone is cheapest, but you need to understand enough Italian to follow the prompts when you want to buy more minutes. You can turn on international roaming if you are using AT&T or T-Mobile, but it is far more expensive. The article goes into these options in more detail so you can make a choice.

Mathew

When I bought the phone at the TIM store I had them set the language to English. All the messages from TIM are in English.

I agree, renting is very expensive, although it might be the best option if you're just planning to use the phone for emergencies. I use www.brightroam.com, it's not prepaid so you don't end up having to recharge or wasting minutes (they just charge your credit card for whatever minutes you use), but you get a TIM service with even cheaper rates to the U.S. than buying a prepaid card. You have to buy the phone, but it's pretty cheap and then you can use it with any other SIM card because it's unlocked.

The rates for AT&T (formerly Cingular) are $1.29/min to send/receive calls, 50 cents per text message. If you sign up for their $6/mos plan just before your trip then the calls are $.99/min and you can cancel when you return. I would think T-Mobile rates are similar.

For many people, just using their phone for the occasional call back home and so they can be reached in an emergency, AT&T or T-Mobile are the best solution.

Thank you to all who replied! Our carrier is US Cellular and their phones are not compatible with Europe at this time. I thing I will follow Henry,Matthew, and Mike's recommendations and buy a phone there. I think you can get them at the tobacco shops in the airport. We leave next week and we are very excited!!!!
Thanks!

Nancy,
See http://www.privati.tim.it/template/temp_ling/tim_main_ling1_eng/0,,71_2_,00.html for locations of TIM stores.

Unless you have a strong need to communicate internally or be reached, get a phone card. Five euros will get you a 100 international minutes and they are available at any news stand/tobacco store. You can also get an internal Italy card for about the same price. All you do is go to a public (or private) telephone, dial an 800 number and then enter the access code on the card. Figures out to be about 7 1/2 cents per minute. We used two of them in 10 days in Italy last fall.

thanks Jim and Henry for the advice. My husband wants to do the international phone card. However, I'm still leaning toward the phone. Could we use the phone in other countries at another time?
Thanks

An alternative is e-mail and use of phones in phone centers. Worked for us, no hassles of contacting service providers or renting phones. Perhaps it cost more but not appreciably

Nancy,

Regarding your last question, you can use the phone in other countries on future visits, however there are a few things to consider.

First, your Italian PAYG plan may "expire" if not used or topped-up for about six months? Therefore you'd need to buy another SIM when you return to Europe. However, if the phone you choose is locked, it won't accept a SIM from another network (you could ask to have the phone unlocked when you buy it?).

Also, if you're traveling in several countries, you'll pay roaming charges when using the phone outside the country where your plan was purchased.

Is there any possibility you might change networks at home in the near future? It makes travelling with the phone much less complicated.

Happy travels!

Nancy,
The cheap phone at TIM is a duel band and works all over the world, except North America, you just put in a SIM from the country you are visiting.

KAY,

I'm assuming your phone(s) are either with AT&T or T-Mobile, and also the handset is unlocked??? Otherwise, you won't be able to use your phones in either Italy or France with local SIM cards.

While you can buy a SIM card in either country that will work in the other, the problem is that you will get cheap rates only in the country you purchased the SIM. You'll pay roaming fees in the other.

You could look at a "universal" SIM such as those offered by Cellular Abroad, Telestial or others. These operate in all Euro countries with fairly predictable rates (I believe Cellular Abroad assigns numbers from Liechtenstein, so anyone calling you will pay long distance). Be sure to study the rate structure so that you have a clear idea on the costs!

The least complicated solution is international roaming with AT&T or T-Mobile, provided you have a quad-band handset.

Hope this helps? Good luck!

Didn't read comment about BrightRoam but found it from Googling about cell phones in Italy. My son is going next week and said they would get phone in Rome but seems more organized to do it before takeoff. Waited too late to buy unlocked triband GSM on Ebay and order TIM card to be mailed here.
BrighRoam w/next day service great!
That phone: basic triband-not fancy-less likely to be swiped maybe-- mainly for emergencies. No biz.

Incoming calls/texts are free so we just need cheap calling card. Rates are comprable and no fee for certain calls (not minute charges) like some SIM providers charge for making calls to mobiles or internationals. Ordered Friday afternoon, arrived 10 am Monday. Emails to customer service answered quickly. One down side--you do pay for checking voice mails which some SIM providers don't charge for.

But now phone can be charged, loaded w/needed numbers, and # distributed to people who need it.
Can get 2nd SIM card for pay-go plan/country if wanted

I, too am trying to figure out what to do about a cell phone in Italy/France. I was hoping to find a Sim card that I could use in my Samsung or Motorola phone which would be good in both Italy and France. The best for me would be a pre-paid card with minutes that never expire. I will probably use it equally in both countries. Any suggestions?

I bought the Telestial Pack Lite Promo for $49 plus shipping and tax -- $61.45 total -- Includes: Siemens a55 + Passport Lite SIM Card + All-in-One International Plug Adapter. It's a UK phone number with free incoming calls to the UK, France, Italy, and Spain. It's 99 cents a minute on outgoing. Comes with $20 of airtime.

I ordered it, received confirmation with a tracking number, and it came 3 days later.

I haven't tried customer service, but friends say the 24/7 service is real and good.

It can be recharged numerous ways. You must use it within a 9 month period to keep the credit on the card, but can even get it back by recharging every 12 months.

http://www.telestial.com/promo/packlite.php

Thanks, Eileen and Ken. I'm not sure we will be able to recharge our phone every 9 or 12 months (although I'd be very happy to go back to Europe every night 12 months) so I'm thinking that Ken's solution will probably be best for us. Yes, our phones are AT&T, quad band. I was just sent the unlocking code 2 days ago and my phone died today. So I'll have to wait until I receive the replacement and then try again to get it unlocked.

One comment about a SIM card. The recharging is a SIM card issue, not a phone issue. So for any pre-paid SIM card, I am guessing that there would be similar expiration rules. If you don't have much money left on the SIM card, it doesn't matter that much anyway. You just lose what's on it. When/if you or someone you know travels again, it can be recharged at that point.

KAY,

Sorry to hear that your phone quit working. One point regarding "unlocking". If you're planning to just use roaming with AT&T when you're travelling, it won't be necessary to have the phone unlocked. This is only required if you plan to use a SIM from another network in your phone.

I'm not thoroughly familiar with the AT&T rate structure, as my plan here (Rogers) is a bit dfferent. However, other Posters have noted that it's possible to have international roaming "enabled" for a slight additional charge, which provides a reduced cost when travelling. This can apparently be cancelled when you return home.

I find the that roaming is by far the simplest and easiest solution, but one has to be careful to limit voice calls as those will increase costs quickly. I normally use text to keep in touch with family back home (very cost effective). Be especially careful if you have a data plan, as that gets REALLY expensive when roaming in Europe!

Happy travels!

With ATT international roaming, it is .99 per minute from Italy. I had them activate it before I left and it worked perfectly. It is great for calls to and from home. For calls inside Italy, you would have to use the full country code, etc. to connect the call. Without international roaming activated, it would have been a higher per minute charge. My phone is a quad band.

I did not have to have my phone unlocked since I used my own sim card.

I use www.RebelFone.com when ever I travel abroad, I got an un-locked phone the first time and since then I just buy a local SIM card for the Country I am traveling to. Its better than renting.

17 yr. old daughter going school trip to italy in May. we have verizon and verizon rep says that our phones don't work over there.
SO, given that they will only be there 7 days, am wondering if we should resist the 'need for a cell phone' and have her just grab a calling card or whatever when she gets there?

I know that some of this has popped up before, but the thread runs for a year so things might have changed.

ski

Give Verizon a call at (800) 711-8300.

I was checking into getting a different phone that can be used in Italy and found this program. They are going to loan me a phone. I get it for up to a month and paying shipping of the loaner one way, plus any calls I make. The calls are expensive, but total cost should be less than other options I've investigated. (given my expected call volume--ymmv)

Jeffrey

I have an AT&T phone (Motorola RAZR V3) and it will take an Italian SIM... our site has bad reception except for Vodaphone, and I plan the next time we can go to purchase a prepaid SIM... it's the cheapest way to go.

Also, you may not loose any money left on your SIM while you aren't in the area. I had a SIM that hadn't been used in a year in the phone I carried last summer- and it still had money left on it when I got to Sicily.

My boss has SIMs for several of the nations which he uses when he's in Europe. That way, you're only paying local prices instead of international roaming charges.

Nancy, do not rent a cell phone, purchase an unlocked cell phone here in the US and bring it to Italy. You can source one easily on the net. It is a worthwhile, if not necessary, investment for traveling. Here's how it works, when you arrive in Italy go to a telecom store and purchase a SIM card, insert it, and start using your phone.

I just came back from Italy, and I purchased a TIM Sim card for 5 Euros (or was it 10...) (which included talk time), and an international phone card for 5 Euros (which included 40 minutes of talk time to the USA). I made local calls directly from my cell phone without incident. Likewise, the phone card worked well for calls to the USA.

I also always travel with my "regular" cell phone so that family can reach me in case of emergency, etc. I have T-mobile service, and to make and receive calls throughout Italy was 99 cents a minute. Moreover, receiving and sending texts can be quite cheap from abroad and an excellent way to stay in touch. Check rates with your service provider.

-Arnold