T-Mobile Phones in Italy

Great question! I also have T-mobile and plan to use my phone in Italy in September, along with England and France. I would love to know the answer to your questions as well!

Furnacefighter,

You'll likely find that when roaming on networks in Europe (and England) that you'll experience less dropped calls and other problems. Your phone will switch networks, usually on the basis of strongest signal. The networks have VERY good coverage, given the compact size of the different countries. Cell Towers are ubiquitous! Of course, there will likely be a few areas where there's "no signal".

Before travelling in Europe, BE SURE to check that your Phone is a quad-band, and is equipped with the 900/1800 MHz frequency bands used in Europe. Depending on handset model, you may have to manually switch frequencies when you arrive.

Be sure also to verify your rates. Your quote of $0.99 /minute will likely be for outgoing calls in-country. For incoming calls and calls to the U.S., the rate is often higher. Also, be careful if your phone includes a data plan, as the cost of data roaming is STEEP!

I ALWAY use roaming in Europe and it works well (use text to save money!)

I, too, have a T-Mobile phone and will use it in Italy this September. I hope it works! I will post on here when we get back and let everyone know how it went.

I used T-Mobile in Italy and always had good service from Venice all the way down to Positano. No problems at all.

I could be wrong, but... Does it cost to leave the U.S. phone on? eg; Not answering a call and letting it go to your mailbox. Does that cost, and is it per minute? How about when the message is complete and your phone says "message waiting"? Is that a charge?...and so on. In other words, because your phone is being accessed by European networks regardless if answered or not, does that constitute a charge? I've heard different explinations. Anyone have the straight poop.

I used my T-Mobile Razr phone in Italy a few weeks ago. Used it quite a bit, in fact. Please note that though your T-Mobile phone works in Europe and is a free service, you need to enable this feature...it doesn't exist for your account automatically and it's not obvious that this is the situation. I didn't learn the hard way, just happened to be looking closely at the T-Mobile website. Simply go to the website and enable it using My Account. Do this at least two days before you travel overseas. The signal is better than in the US, no dropped calls. No charge for roaming, keep your phone on. The rate is 99 cents per minute to anywhere..Italy, US, whatever. I don't know about messages, never received one, I assume accessing one's mailbox incurs the same 99 cents per minute charge.

Hey Guys, thanks for the posts! Yeah, like everything in Europe, nothing is free everything will cost. But it will be cheaper than hotel phones and some internet cafes. We are leaving our daughter at home this time so we feel the need to be more easily accessable over there. At the T-Mobile/my account website there is a great question and answer section that I've printed out for when we go over next month. Main question was how's the service. Thanks, keep the replies coming!

I can also say that I had no issues with T-Mobile in Italy (from Sicily north to Tuscany) . I only made a couple of calls ... one back to the U.S. and a couple brief ones to hotels in Italy so my total bill was under $10. I've also used the phone in England. I have a quad-band phone.

I think that the very first time that I took my phone to Europe, I had some trouble with it identifying a network when I turned on the phone. On my RAZR phone, I had to select Settings/Network/Available Networks and then pick one of the networks and select Register. I did not have the same issue the next time that I returned to Europe ... as soon as I turned on the phone it recognized the network.

Yes, they do charge when you access your voicemail and I think that is the other thing that I had a little bit of trouble with. Instead of getting the password prompt, you get your voicemail greeting. You then have to press a key to interrupt it. Check their website for instructions before yo

Furnacefighter,

Regarding "how's the service", I think you'll find that you get better coverage in Europe than at home. As Europe is much more compact there is excellent coverage in most areas. There are Cell towers all over the place.

Of course if you're travelling in more rural areas, you might still find a few places where you find "no service".

Cheers!

We used my T-mobile phone in Italy last fall and also had no problems.