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Vodaphone or TIM for data?

Posted by (Jasper) on

It's been a few years since I purchased a sim card in Italy, and given the fast pace of change I want advice on whether to buy a sim from TIM (good experience in the past) or Vodaphone (never used). I'll be traveling all throughout the country for 30 days and will use my phone extensively for routing, researching sites etc that will use a lot of data. I don't like using wifi and would rather pay to get plenty of data so I won't have to worry about running out. I will not make many calls back to the US, so I'm OK with changing numbers.

Also, do either of these cards work in France as well because after leaving Italy I go to France for a month. Orange worked well for me the last time; is it still the best for France? Is there a provide that works well for both countries?

Thanks.

Posted by
15236 posts

First of all it's Vodafone (with an F, not PH).

Vodafone has better 4G coverage in some rural areas, but if your trip is primarily in the big cities, then it doesn't make a difference. Since I need coverage in areas that TIM has lousy (or no) coverage, I am a Vodafone customer.

Every year I buy the Vodafone Holiday plan, a plan designed for foreign visitors. It gives you 2Gb of data, 300 outgoing voice minutes to anywhere in the world, 300 SMS texts to anywhere in the world (all incoming calls and texts are always free and unlimited in Europe).

If you cross the border into France, Vodafone will automatically deduct €3 a day (Smart Passport plan, which is automatically included). So before you cross the border go to a Tabacconist shop and add money to your credit, so that you are covered for those days outside of Italy. If your credit, after the deductions, go negative, you can't use your phone until you reload money in it.

http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privati/Tariffe-e-Prodotti/Tariffe/Estero/Vodafone-Holiday-English

There might be other plans available that are more advantageous, since they change all the time, but the above is the one I'm familiar with.

TIM has a similar plan called TIM FOR VISITORS. I've never used it, since I don't get good TIM coverage in the areas where I need to be.
https://www.tim.it/offerte/mobile/estero/dallitalia

Posted by
1814 posts

I picked up a Vodafone SIM in Palermo this past June for my Sicily trip. It took about 40 minutes in the Vodafone shop, but about 15 minutes of that was waiting time as the man in front of me chatted with the clerk. 20 euros for the plan that Roberto described above. I had mostly 4G and 3G type speeds. Oh and the 300 minutes are good for calls back to US too.

Don't forget to bring your passport.

Rich

Posted by
11613 posts

Yes, it will work with Orange in France.

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