italy gsm unlocked phones

I, too, have Verizon here in the USA. My phone is a Z6C Motorola world edition. I've gone back and forth with this issue and posted the same question on this forum. Several people suggested telestial.com which offers an unlocked quad band gsm phone and sim card for $68.00. Verizon, on the other hand, gave me a free sim card to use in Italy. The cost for Verizon will be .99 cents a minute with a monthly program of $4, which I can cancel when I return to the USA. Since I do not plan to use the phone that much, it seems cheaper to stay with the Verizon plan.

Cynthia, the SIM card is the phone, for all practical purposes in making calls. The rest is just electronic plumbing. The SIM card allows you access to the provider's network, carries your phone number, etc. If I took the SIM out of my AT&T phone and handed it to someone else, they could make calls on my account, and my number would show up on caller ID.

So if you had a phone that accepts a SIM and go to Italy, when you buy a SIM you have an Italian phone number that works on that providers network (and any other GSM network via roaming). You will get free incoming calls while in Italy, call the US at about 50 cents a minute, and have cheap calls within Italy.

You can either buy an inexpensive phone, or see if a friend has an old one they can loan you. I kept my old Razr for just this reason, and it has taken a lot more international flights than I have! If you're buying one, the cheapest quad-band phone you can get is what you're looking for. That's because if you buy a phone originally meant for US service, it will need the 850 and 1900 bands because that's what we use here. So US phones have at least these two. Internationally they use the 900 and 1800 bands. If you get a tri-band phone it might work in Italy, depending on the frequency in use where you are, since the 3rd band will be either 900 or 1800. But a quad-band is sure to work.

Cynthia,

You might check with Verizon as they can provide a phone that will work in Europe. The sales staff would be able to provide the rates and the details. If you're just planning to have a phone for "emergencies" or occasionally checking hotel reservations, that would be one option.

Purchasing an unlocked GSM quad-band phone here and using it with a SIM from one of the European networks is another option. The SIM card you purchase will work on whichever network sells you the card (ie: TIM in Italy). You'll be on a local plan with local rates.

Most of the Euro networks have a variety of plans to suit different calling patterns, so you'll have to give some thought to that. Also be sure to find out how to top-up the phone. You could check the websites of TIM or Wind, however they are probably formatted only in Italian.

Another option would be to either buy or rent a phone from Call In Europe, Cellular Abroad, Mobal or other "travel phone" providers. Check their websites for details and rates.

Happy travels!

Yes Cynthia that's all you have to do. Get a cheap unlocked tri or quad band phone called GSM. Ebay would be the ebst source. Then buy a SIM card when in Italy. Some of the providers in Europe are, Vodafone, Orange (T-mobile in the US), TIM =this is the most expensive provider, as far as I know.
I wonder how much verizon would charge you to get a GSM phone from them.

Just returned from Italy 2 days ago. Brought the Vodafone cell phone we purchased in Italy in 2007 and just got a new SIM card for it which was 30 euros at the Vodafone store in Venice. You get a few Euros included on this too. Not exactly sure how many. A few days later I had 25 more Euros added to the phone at another Vodafone store. They did it electronically and only needed my phone #. Otherwise you can purchase a ricarica card which adds more euros to the phone. The rates in Euros were: .50 to the states, .16 within Italy and free incoming calls including from the states.

The sim card is very easy to put in the phone and then you will be given a phone # and a card that you will scratch off and find the PIN # to enter. To find out how many Euros I had left on the phone all I had to do was either call or text to 404 and I would immediately get a text message telling me how many Euros were left on the phone and how many Euros the last call I made used up.

Thought it would be handy to have 2 cell phones for our group so I also brought along another cell phone that we had purchased in the states. It was supposed to be unlocked (through t mobile) and it was not unlocked. Ended up with a 2nd sim card we couldn't use.

I too have Verizon and their prices were outrageous!

I bought my 2 unlocked GSM phones. One at overstock.com and the other one at ustronics.com
I then purchased a TIM card( better reception in Italy) from cellular abroad. Check online. cellular Abroad also sells phones but their prices are a bit high.