Cheapest way to have a phone in Italy

Donna: See John's posting on Cell Phones. Phones are addressed in detail. You can take a U.S. GSM or multi channel phone and buy a SIMs card in Italy, however you need to have the phone "unlocked" before you go.
There are many options. I'm leaving Tuesday for U.K and Italy, but have not decided which way to go.

we have pretty cheap phones over here, the only thing you have to make sure is that they're set to make international phone calls. where are you getting in so that i can tell you someplace where to buy one with the sim card?

I found one that I bought in Italy two years ago!! It is a very simple phone, easy to use and I will put minutes on it when I get there. It has an Italian Sim card. I will need to buy minutes when I get to Rome. Can I get the minutes added at the Tobacco shops?

Several years ago we purchased an unlocked, gsm, quad band phone on eBay. After arriving in Roma we bought a simm card from TIM in Stazione Termini. We now have an Italian phone number and the cost is dramtically cheaper than using my Verizon international cell phone. The TIM simm card cost 10 euro and it can be reloaded at any edicola (newsstand), phone store, or even online. All you need is the number and the cash. It was a very simple operation. You will need your passport at the TIM store. Buon viaggio,

donna, I have a few comments to add. First of all, could you provide further details on the "Verizon smart phone" that your friend will be using? Many Verizon phones will NOT operate in Europe, as they use a different technology (CDMA). By signing up for the "international plan" was she planning to use a "loaner" phone from Verizon? Yes, you can certainly buy an unlocked quad-band GSM Phone off E-Bay or other sites, and use that with a PAYG SIM card purchased in Italy. There are a variety of networks (TIM, WIND, Vodaphone, etc.) and a variety of plans available. You'll probably need some help setting it up, as the Menus will be in Italian. You could also buy an unlocked GSM phone here, and use it with a SIM from one of the "travel phone" firms such as Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Call In Europe, Telestial or Mobal (there are others). These typically use a U.K.-based number and provide consistent rates throughout western Europe (calling rates are arranged in "zones"). Billing is often on a post-paid basis with calls charged to a credit card. The advantage to this approach is that you'd have a working phone as soon as you step off the plane, and no need to "top up". The "travel phone" firms also sell GSM phones and the cost is reasonable. One important point to make regarding "Smart Phones". It's VERY important to consider data roaming, if the phone is capable of accessing the cellular data network. Some travellers have returned home to HUGE bills for data roaming (I saw one last year for $37,000!). If the phone can use cell data in Europe, it's better to disable that and use ONLY Wi-Fi for E-mail and web browsing. Of course, it the home cell network offers a data roaming plan, that's also an option. Happy travels!

donna, how long ago you bought your italian sim card?? they do expire if you don't recharge them in a year. any way you can buy a new one when you get here. don't bring your own american cellphones, you'll pay a fortune. just bring that phone you found and buy a new sim card if that one is expired. remember in italy you don't put minutes on the sim card, you put money. so is you charge 20€ on it, then it depends from company to company how much you'll pay each minute talking with the phone. the two major companies are TIM and VODAFONE. i have TIM, connection is good everywhere and is cheaper.
a sim card is gonna cost you 5€ and you can charge it putting 20€ on it. that should be enough. if you run out of money, you can recharge it everywhere in a bar, as long as you know your number! :)

Donna, if you are just going to do a very limited amount of calling, and if you aren't going to be there long, using your home phone account is the easiest solution. If the phone will work overseas, sign up for the International Plan, be sure to cut non-wifi data roaming off, and then don't use it much. Be warned that if others call your friend from the U.S., she may get some type of international charge even if she doesn't answer the phone. Forwarding all incoming calls to voicemail is one way to avoid this.

Donna, if you use your Italian-bought phone, you can buy minutes at any tobacco shop or kiosk. You will probably need to get a new SIM card to get the phone going, but you don't need to buy new SIM cards every time you run out of minutes, just get more minutes added. It takes about 10 seconds for the company to process.

ZOE, sim cards here in italy expire if you don't recharge them with money within a year.

I bought a European cell phone and SIM card with time via internet, before going to Italy, and it worked fine. However, without any Italian, installing more time was not easy... all the messages re installation were in Italian, as were the warnings about running out of time. I don't know if they are all like that, but it was more of a hassle than I wanted to deal with. Since then, I've just used a Verizon phone: initially one of their cheap rental phones, and more recently a GSM flip phone I purchased through them. I've found that much easier than using my European phone (ie, I know how to use phone, messages are in English, etc). Just be VERY careful that they set your phone up correctly. Twice, once in France and once in Italy, Verizon reps gave me partial instructions, so I ended up with nonfunctional phone and had to buy a phone card to call them for full instructions. Next time, I'm going to double check instructions with several reps.