Prepaid phone in Italy??

Alan, yes it has been done. Check out the following link from an earlier message. Within Italy cell phone - questions

The answer depends on how much communication with each other you will be needing, and whether you will just be texting or will also be calling, and whether you will be calling back to the US. Briefly, phones bought in Italy will have much lower fees for calls and texts, and receiving calls on an Italian mobile while in Italy is free. The catch is, you have to spend the money on the phones. So, if you're using them a lot, it will pay off; if you're not, it won't. Also, if your current AT&T phone is quad band, you can probably get it unlocked before your trip (check with AT&T). This means you only have to buy an Italian SIM, and these are not expensive (when I went a few years ago, it was 10 euros with 5 euros of credit). Getting an Italian SIM is not hard (you do need to bring your passport). Here's a website with exhaustive details of available carriers and their rates (I used WIND Senza Scatto, and it was fine): http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/italy.php

Paul: thanks for the link! I will check this out next. Harold: Usage= •I can see using this like 5-10 text and under 10 calls to each other every couple of days. So I guess this would be "usage-lite" I suppose. •We will not use these to call back to the states. We will have our phones (iphones on the World Plan rates) to do that.
•Good call on the unlocking the phone and getting a sim card. I need to look into this! Much thanks! Alan

Paul: Okay, I read the threads. We have iPhone4 and 4s so I think it will hard finding a micro sim card in Italy. So from what I understand, my next best bet would be to buy a phone from the TIM store at the airport right? Or, actually, if our usage will be really light we might still be better off using the World traveler Plan from AT&T. Hmm. -Alan

Alan, We bought a prepaid micro-sim card during our trip to Italy last year. Got it from TIM. Served us really well and we also got a data bundle with it. It wasn't expensive at all, and the minutes we had came in handy when we had to call to make reservations, bookings, etc. Note that iphones from Singapore all comes unlocked.

The World Traveler plan only reduces your minutes from $1.29 to $0.99 - for ALL minutes, whether calling each other, calling the US, or calling an Italian number. Furthermore, when one of you calls the other, you both have to pay the $0.99 for each minute that you are talking. The World Traveler plan also adds some cost that has to be factored in. With an Italian SIM, you would pay (let's say) 0.25 euros per minute, and something similar to call the US. Furthermore, when you call each other, the caller pays 0.25 euros, and the receiver pays nothing. So, if you will be making more than a few calls, the savings can add up. But, texts on AT&T are much cheaper, and you can get a separate text plan for international use (I don't remember details, but someone else posted here and it was a good deal). So, for texting each other and the occasional call, it's not a big deal to use your phones. But, for more calls, either to between yourselves or to the US, getting an Italian phone saves money. You should also see if you (or someone you know) has an old "dumbphone" from AT&T or T-Mobile that is quadband (for examples, all RAZR's are quadband). This can be unlocked before your trip, and can be used with an Italian SIM. You won't get data on this, but for calls and texts it works fine. If you need more detailed info (such as whether any Italian companies have microSIMs for their pay as you go plans), check out the forums on the prepaidgsm.net link I gave you earlier. The people who hang out there know EVERYTHING about these matters (beware of being overwhelmed by tech talk).