Cell service

TIM, Vodafone, Wind, 3. The above are the major providers in order of size (subscribers). TIM and Vodafone are by far the largest. Both are good. Wind has areas of not so good coverage in some mountain areas (in my experience). It's generally cheaper though. TIM and Vodafone have the best coverage. Buy a cheap phone in the US online. The best deals are online (e-bay, amazon.com, everbuying.com). You can find cheap phones for under $30. Just make sure you search by the following words:
UNLOCKED GSM QUAD BAND

I used TIM for the past week in Venice, Florence, and Rome. I called Verizon and requested that they unlock my phone, then picked up a SIM card in Italy. I found the service to be good. I had 3G service on my iphone 4s whenever I needed it. Sometimes in older buildings, it would be spotty. One italian resident told me she uses Wind because its better, and another guy told me Vodaphone is better. I think it was $27.

Have used both Vodafone and TIM a number of times and both worked equally well. For us it just depends on what store we come upon first. We usually buy a sim for an Italian cell phone we purchased a few yrs back or for an old unlocked phone we keep just for traveling purposes. The last two times we have had TIM sim cards. This past July I also brought my current Verizon phone and did sign up for an int'l calling plan for $4.99/mo and then $.99/minute. Without the int'l plan it is $1.29/min. Can drop the plan anytime. Did this mainly so my mother didn't have to deal with another phone #. I turned off data and used free wi-fi at the apts. we were staying at.