cell phone in Italy

Sally, Verizon has a global phone rental plan. For 9.99 postage, they'll send you a phone you can use in Europe and for a 4.99 calling plan your rate will be 99 cents a minute instead of 1.29, sending texts 50 cents and I believe receiving texts is 5 cents each. You also get to keep your own phone no. and people calling you from home don't get charged on their cell phones for the call. I plan to do this for my own trip in 10 days, yes, I repeat 10 days! Call Verizon, they should be able to help you. I 'm sure you'll also get lots of helpful responses on this board so this is just an option.

Sally, two other options to consider. You could buy an inexpensive phone from one of the travel phone firms. Check the websites for Roam Simple, Call In Europe, Cellular Abroad, Telestial and Mobal for further details. Be sure to check their rate plans carefully! ¶ The other option would be to buy quad-band, unlocked GSM phones off E-Bay and either use a SIM from one of the travel phone firms above, or buy a local SIM card in Italy. I usually prefer to have the phone "operational" before arrival, so I don't have to waste valuable travel time taking care of that. ¶ Of course, using a rental from Verizon as mentioned in the previous reply is also something to consider. Good luck!

Sally, I'm a Verizon customer, too. Their rental program is so easy. Returning to Italy in October and will use their program again.

We just used the Verizon plan for Switzerland and Italy a couple of weeks ago. It's a great program and the staff handling it does a fantastic job helping you activate and deactivate the "loaner" phone along with transferring all of your contacts from your phone to the loaner.

Thanks to everyone for sharing. I am getting the Verizon "loaner" for my trip to Italy and Greece 10/3 - 10/16. I'll report back on how it works for me (old lady; low tech. skills).

I have a different twist on the cell phone in Italy question regarding Sprint (me) and AT&T (wife). Sprint (and I assume AT&T) has a similar travel plan. My question is about coverage, particularly outside urban areas, like in Tuscany. Anyone have experience with Sprint and AT&T's Italian partners' rural signal coverage?

Thank you all, very much. I think I'll call Verizon since I'm already a customer. Great feedback. For those planning trips, ENJOY!!!

Burton, this May I used my AT&T Iphone and my Razor in the Tuscan and Umbrian hills, and most of the time had excellent reception. I put an EU chip in my jailbroken and unlocked Iphone, and used it for local calls, and used my old Razor with the AT&T overseas plan, for calls to home. I DID NOT use data (3G) for either. Both were for calls only, and I used the IPhone for wi-fi. AT&T does a great job explaining all of the options that you have overseas, on their web site....read it! Now they have calling plans that let you purchase (pre-pay) for varying amounts of data usage. If you don't get this package, and leave your data "on", you will come home ro a phone bill for thousands of $$$$!

Hi, I loaded Skype in my iPhone, and it worked well IF you can get a fast WIFI connection. I wanted to be able to call home to Canada. The first comment Dad said was "You sound like you are next door" Skype calls are about 3 cents per minute. Skype will not replace a regular cell phone because of the WIFI connection.

Thanks, again. I contacted Verizon, and they're sending me a rental phone for $9.99, and I get to keep my own number. I'm really pleased. I wish I knew about this a couple of years ago when I visited Ireland. Ended up buying a phone for over $100. It wasn't a total loss though, because when I got home and realized it didn't work in the States, I mailed it to a friend back in Ireland. At least someone was able to use it.

Verizon does not allow you to purchase insurance on their rentals. If your phone is lost (!) or damaged, you owe them $199.

I have a BlackBerry Storm 2, so i have scheduled the global plan to be turned on before i leave, yes you have to do it before you leave, then email, facebook, internet are all free, and bb message is free to each other while in Rome. I can post pics to facebook for everyone, and email my hubby too! It is like 69 a month but when you get home, you turn it off, and then it is prorated. it replaces the 29 dollor unlimited plan i am on now. Also i downloaded the Ap to my phone Navita a free language translater. You can type in what you want to say, it translates it, and even speaks it to them, or you can type the Italian in and it translates it in English! Go Storm2!

I would double check that international plan on your blackberry storm2. What carrier is this through? Overseas data can be very expensive.I can't imagine international unlimited for $69 a month.