Recommendation has been to purchase a cell phone in Rome with about 400 minutes of use. This bypasses hassels with adapting American phones. Any ideas?
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32353 posts
Larry,
You could certainly purchase a phone when you arrive in Rome, however I'm not sure about the aspect of "400 minutes of use"? There are a variety of networks and plans available.
There are really no hassles with "adapting American phones". If one has a quad band, unlocked GSM Phone, then no "adapting" is necessary. Simply buy a SIM card when you arrive, place in the phone and you're in business.
Another option would be to purchase or rent a phone from one of the "travel phone" firms such as Call In Europe, Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Telestial or Mobal. They also sell SIM cards for those that have a compatible phone.
I've been travelling with roaming so far with my home network, and that's been very convenient - no hassles at all! However, it can be expensive for voice calls, so I tend to use text most of the time.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
Posted by
Coraopolis, Pa, USA
1018 posts
Last summer I used my Verizon world phone in Italy and the cost for over 3 weeks was about $110. In September I bought an unlocked quad band gsm phone on ebay and I plan to buy a simm card from an Italian phone company when I return in June.
Buon viaggio,
RB
Posted by
Boca Raton, Florida, US
1 posts
It´s a good idea to have a italian local line instead of the american, cause you will save in roaming charges, but why dont you rent one? i belive that if you buy the phone, you need to buy cards or airtime, but if you rent the phone, some of them have "pay as you go", so you can use the phone without worrying about cards and such, and when you are done, back in the us, you return it, and later you receive your bill, and that´s it...one of the companies names is renta phone, the other one i know is phonerentalusa.com.
have fun and good luck!
Posted by
Redmond, WA, USA
4 posts
SIMM card is separate from phone... It is cheaper to by 3(4)-band GSM phone on ebay and buy a SIMM in Rome for E10, which would include E5 in prepaid time (12c/min for in-country calls, 35c/min for outbound US calls). You can easily buy refill cards in E5-10 denominations. Do not buy at Smartphone in Fiunicino airport (they did not activated mine, though had promissed).