We will be in Italy for 3 1/2 weeks in April. I am considering buying a phone and SIMcard from MOBAL to use on our trip. Anybody have any experience with MOBAL? The card ($50/month) comes with unlimited data and text. Calls are .30 cents per in/out call both in Italy and back to USA. I want to use the phone ($79) as hotspot for web access on an iPad and use it for FaceTime or SKYPE and other web surfing.
Posted by
Mendocino, CA, United States
24 posts
I plan to try it in Paris, Amsterdam, Rome and other places in Italy in April and May this year -- leaving soon. I bought the Mobal sim card to swap into my iPhone 5 ... Plan to do the swap on the flight to Paris. Don't know how much I'll actually want to use it, but it will be there. So as yet I have zero experience with it (except it was shipped quickly and good instructions)... Bought it on the recommendation of another travel writer; not Rick.
Posted by
824 posts
You will break the bank if you use a MOBAL SIM as a hotspot for web access, particularly if you plan to Skype or Facetime. Do you realize their data rate is $399 a GB?
If you have a an unlocked GSM (quad band) phone (you can pick one up cheap on ebay), you can purchase a local provider pay-as-you-go SIM for 20-30 euro and get 1-4GB of data plus MUCH cheaper air and text rates.
My O2 SIM in the UK cost me 20 GBP for 2GB and 300 minutes of air time and 100 picture texts.
My WIND SIM in Italy was about the same cost (but I won't recommend them due to unreliable service - try TIM or VODAFONE).
BTW - if you already have an iPhone 5 or 6, it has an unlocked GSM radio. Just plug and play...