Has anyone used Sprint when traveling to Italy?

" Is the service good there?"

Their service will be as good as whichever networks Sprint has partnered with in Italy. Sprint does not operate towers or network equipment, so you'll be using local providers. In my experience using international roaming, service has always been excellent.

I'm not familiar with the Sprint Galaxy Note 2, so don't know if there will be any compatibility problems with the GSM networks in Europe

I had Sprint. When I wanted to use my phone in Europe they told me it was not possible (this was 2 years ago and I had a fairly new phone). I no longer have Sprint.

Just curious as to why a SIM card would be incompatible with your phone. If phone is unlocked, you should be able to use any micro-sim card and be good to go.

Issue with my Sprint phone was that it was not GSM compatible so the SIM cards that would go in it would not connect with any network in Europe. Therefore, the phone is incompatible with the SIM cards needed to use the phone there.

From what I hear, Sprint is much better now and does have European service, but only for some of its phones.

Philip,

"Just curious as to why a SIM card would be incompatible with your phone."

Sprint primarily operated a CDMA network initially, so their phones were NOT compatible with the GSM system used in Europe and the rest of the world. Even if a particular phone would accept a SIM card, the Sprint specifications for some phones may not have included some of the technical protocols for operating on GSM networks. They seem to be "getting with the program" now and the newer phones use SIM cards and are compatible.

Ken, thanks for the clarification. But OP says that Sprint said that the phone would work with a sim. OP could get phone unlocked and see if a friend has ATT or T-Mobile and try their card.

Philip,

Even if the phone can use SIM cards, it would be helpful to know why "it doesn't appear to be compatible". If the phone is currently equipped with a SIM card for use in the U.S., the easiest solution might be just to use the Sprint international roaming plan, rather than fooling around with local cards.

Yes, Philip, I agree, using Sprint's international plan will be easier than worrying about SIM cards. I'll just have to be careful to only use the phone with wifi and to turn off the roaming. Will also get a text messaging app to use over wifi, too. (Sprint's international plan is not as good as other plans.)