I'm going to be in Italy for a week in October on an organized tour, in a large group. I'm wondering if I'll want or even need a cell phone during the trip. I'm thinking that I may want to call home once or maybe twice but that would be it. I don't know if it will be worth getting a cell phone. I do own a phone that I bought in Scotland in April of 2011. If I brought that phone with me, would it work if I could I get a TIM SIM card for it when I get to Italy? Thank you in advance for your help. Pam
Posted by
Portland, Oregon, United States
907 posts
You probably won't need one. You can call home with an international calling card (Costco). You phone will need a SIM card for Italy if you decide to take it.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
Your Scottish phone will have the frequencies to work in Italy. But it must be unlocked to work with an Italian SIM card. If it's locked, it will only work with its original carrier. To find out if it's unlocked, try in-serting a T-Mobile or AT&T SIM card and turning on the phone. If it almost immediately asks for a "SIM PIN 2" and doesn't allow you to proceed further, it's locked. If it starts up normally, but keeps saying "searching for network," it's unlocked. You can get it unlocked for various prices and with various degrees of difficulty, depending on the model. Once you have done this, it will work with any SIM, and can work in any country that uses its frequencies. The US uses 850 and 1900, while Europe and some other places use 900/1800. A phone can have 1, 2, 3 or all 4 frequencies; most cheap ones have 2, but of course there are exceptions. If it's not unlocked, I wouldn't bother doing anything about for this trip. To make just one or two calls, you can buy an Italian phone card to use in a pay phone or from your hotel room. If it is already unlocked, you may want to bring it. Here's Ron in Rome's info about the latest deals from TIM.
Posted by
Minneapolis
1274 posts
Hi Pam. I would concur with R Gordon - you won't need one; one less thing to worry about. There are easy, cheap ways to contact home a couple of times without carrying a cell phone. Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
OP
Albany, NY, USA
62 posts
Thanks R Gordon, Harold & Bob, for the advice. The phone is a Samsung. It wasn't a really cheap phone but it wasn't expensive either. If I can borrow a SIM card for one of those networks and try to see if the phone is locked, I'll do that. I'm not addicted to my cell phone like some people I know, but it is a nice convenience. And I used to keep it charged just to play the games on it when I first got home. I have the converter plug and it uses the same charger my current phone uses. If it is locked it's not a problem. I can just get a phone card as suggested. Pam.