Which cellular network in Italy?

Good question Bob, So it sounds to me you've got the phone that eludes 90% of travelers that come to Italy! A tri or quadband cell phone that is carrier & sim unlocked. Dealing with travelers in Italy on a daily basis, that is RARE! Most Americans have, through no fault of their own, either dual-band phones that don't work in Europe, phones that are SIM carrier locked meaning their SIM will not allow them to pick up networks of other carriers (which is the only option in Italy), or their PHONE is carrier locked meaning the phone will only accept SIMs of their carrier. This is a REAL pain to sort out, so if anyone else sees this topic and is wondering about what to do, don't hesitate to ask! Now, since you have a phone that accepts all SIMs, your choices are: Vodafone TIM (telecom italia) 3 (pronounced "Tre") Wind Poste Italiane My recommendation: Vodafone, TIM, or Wind. There are cell phone stores all over downtown with these three carriers, and all of them will able to help you get a quick SIM, just bring your passport and grab a ticket at the little service machine when you enter, and many of the stores will speak English. The easiest Vodafone stores to reach in central Rome are:
a NEW one Largo Argentina (on the other side of the ruined area in front of the La Feltrinelli bookstore), Via del Corso, on the corner of Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina, via del Tritone, just up the hill a bit from Via del Corso towards Piazza Barberini (past Piazza S. Silvestro). These are the easiest centrally-located ones, although you'll find many little shops that have the cards too, just look for the logo sticker on the window.

We use TIM. My wife and son started out with Wind and Vodaphone but had problems (what they were can't honesly remember) and switched to TIM. I haven't heard any complaints. Alot of the Italians I know seem to prefer TIM.

I use Vodaphone personally but I seem to recall hearing something about some kind of family type plan that Tim offers if more than one person is in your network...Ron, maybe you can explain it if you know since you're a Tim user?

We have used Vodafone a number of times now and have had no problems. Like a previous poster stated be sure to bring your passport or they can not sell you a sim card.

One of the ubiquitous topics of conversation in Italy is about cell phone carriers. Because unlike in the US, most people prefer not to take contracts and "pay-as-you-go" with recharge cards. This means there's often a lot of switching, number porting, number changing, and general confusion with carriers. One year Vodafone is the best, the next year TIM, the next year 3 comes out with a great deal, but then you hear WIND has better reception... it's actually all a bunch of nonsense for those of us who live there, because at the end of the day they're all just a bunch of big companies trying to make money off you talking on and using your phone. Tourists should not concern themselves with this, because it will never apply to them. If you're in Rome for under a month, whether you get Vodafone, TIM, Wind, 3, whatever, it will be fine and you won't spend too much, because you won't be on the phone all that often anyway. In fact, the BEST reason to have a number (as Bob here is smart enough to do!), so that service providers (hotels, car rental companies, tour companies), fellow travelers, and loved ones back home, can call YOU! And in Italy, receiving a call never costs 1 cent. So give your number out to everyone you can, and have them call you. Remember, 011-39-YOU-RNU-MBER from the USA, and +39 instead of 011 (+ is the same as 00) from other European countries. If calling another Italian number, you can drop all the prefixes and just dial the number. If calling the US, it's usually around 1euro a minute, and you dial +1-THE-NUM-BERS. Helps?

I love people who have spent a few years here and try to speak for "all of us who live here"...

I'm sorry Rik but I don't think that remark was warranted.

To All.. Thanks for the help. It's just the information I needed. BTW, I bought my reconditioned V197 unlocked Motorola quadband phone from Amazon a couple of years ago for around $50. I looked recently and that model seems to be scarce now. Maybe, for once, I was in the right place at the right time.

Bob: Good call. I was just in the states hitting shops to find a cheap, quad band, unlocked cell phone. I did not have the time to ebay it. In Europe they are between 20-40 euros anywhere. In the US, they do not exist. Unless you want to pay over $200. I would love to be wrong on this! :-(

Steve, I had a brief look at EBay using the Motorola V551 as an example, and there are LOTS of them available at costs that seem to average about $30. That's the phone I'm currently using and it works great both in Europe and here. Bob, Regarding which network to choose, in my experience all the Italian networks work quite well. In the past when I've used roaming with my home carrier, my phone connected to the network with the strongest signal in each area, so I used all the networks at one time or another. I never had any problems with any of them. Cheers!

Hey Rik, Not sure on plan details as we use the charge cards. A co-worker had a plan with TIM at one point but wasn't happy with it for some reason.

I have a quad band AT&T phone that AT&T swears is unlocked (I followed their instructions about unlocking it) I had planned to get in Italian sim card when I arrive in Rome. It seems to me this should be the most cost-effective way to have phone service as I would not have to purchase the phone. Does this sounds like a viable plan? How much should an Italian sim card cost? Do a understand correctly that I can then receive calls for free from the US? I was going to post this is a separate question but it seems to generally fit with Bob's question.

I am going to be bringing my unlocked Google Nexus S Android phone to Italy this spring and will get a SIM card for phone and data from TIM, Wind or Vodafone in Venice. I wish I could easily do this with my iPhone since I prefer it but too much hassle since it locked to AT&T as well as the fact that it uses a micro SIM which is harder to get.

Kay: You can get a SIM card pretty much at any cell phone store, it doesn't even have to be the major carriers there are a lot of smaller cell shops that carry all of them. They scan your passport, have you write down a few things, sign something, and it's yours. It doesn't really cost anything for the actual card, it is usually included with the credit. So, if it's 15 euros, that will generally include 15 euros of credit. At least, that's what I recall, it's been a while since I've gotten a new SIM there. After that it's about 10-25 cents for the first minute and 8-15 cents per minute after that. It all depends on the carrier, the plan, what carrier you're calling, if it's a "fixed line" or a mobile, etc. I think you'll be great! Lisa: Sounds like a good plan. Yes, it is free to receive calls from anyone, from any country (unless they do the 4848 to you, so if you hear an Italian recording calling you, hang up! hehehe). It's like a local collect call. There's a great blog post on how to call to and from Italy while in the US and Italy on travel writer Amanda Ruggeri's website at Revealed Rome http://tinyurl.com/revealedrome (she's writing for Fodors Rome, has written for the Guardian, US News & World Report, Mother Jones...) Hope that helps!

Ken, Thanks for the heads up on the V551. I picked up one from E-Bay so my wife and I can communicate in Rome in case we are seperated. I also will use this phone in the States on a prepaid basis as I do my other Motorola quad band. Win-Win Bob