cell phone usage in Italy (US)

Old Sep 14th, 2014, 11:23 PM
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cell phone usage in Italy (US)

Hi! We have ATT, and Iphones, a 4 and 5. We were quoted outrageous prices to use them in Italy. We will be traveling with another couple. We will have a tablet with us as well. They (ATT) insist we have to pay for a plan for 30 days no matter the length of our trip, too. It looks like it could easily cost a few hundred dollars...

Any options/suggestions on how to manage this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
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Old Sep 14th, 2014, 11:27 PM
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We were quoted outrageous prices to use them in Italy.

Of course you were.

Are your devices unlocked?

If yes, check out this thread: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...t-data-sim.cfm

If no, then you choices are either:
a. pay AT&T's exorbitant rate
b. unlock your devices and see the thread linked above
c. buy unlocked devices and leave your AT&T stuff turned off (or at home)
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 01:30 AM
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I'm not sure, because I live in Italy, and almost all of our phones here are unlocked at birth, but I think the iPhone 5 can be used abroad with a foreign SIM card without much trouble.

If you get one SIM card with a good data plan in Italy for one of your phones, you can use it to tether the others, and also to tether the tablet, so you wouldn't need any data roaming plan from AT&T. I suppose they have call roaming plans at more reasonable rates.
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 02:19 AM
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I'm not sure, because I live in Italy, and almost all of our phones here are unlocked at birth, but I think the iPhone 5 can be used abroad with a foreign SIM card without much trouble.

In the U.S., practically all phones are locked to the provider (AT&T, Verizon, etc.) and in order to use them with other providers, i.e., different sims, you need to unlock it.

IIRC, all phones sold in Europe must be unlocked.

A U.S. iPhone 5 can be used outside of the U.S. but for it to work with a non-provider sim, it needs to be unlocked.
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 02:53 AM
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I know that they're now beginning to sell phone contracts which include a phone. It ties you to a contract for a certain period of time, but I don't know if they put a lock on the phone. Maybe they let you use another SIM card, but keep charging your credit card for duration of the contract.

I have a month-by-month bundle with TIM, with no contract, so I don't know how these phone offers work.
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 03:41 AM
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We were able to add a one month Canadian Bell International calling plan for under $100 ( with our unlocked Samsung) but honestly, we used our tablet and free WIFI in Italy to text other hotels or call free back to Canada over Facebook.http://www.inferse.com/1796/facebook...-voip-call-uk/
After the trip, we felt we didn't need the phone as we didn't speak Italian and our English texts to Italian hotels were always replied to fast.
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 04:14 AM
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Are you on contract with ATT? If not, you could look at T Mobile's plans - I just signed up for a month-to-month deal with them with international coverage. Otherwise, sparkchaser has laid out your choices, but to expand on option 3:

Buy a cheap unlocked quad band phone in the US from amazon, ebay or craigslist.

Buy a cheap phone when you get to Europe.

Actually, another option is to use only wifi and Skype.
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 05:35 AM
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My sister used her U.S. iPhone recently in Italy. She had to call her carrier to sign up for an international plan. I believe the calls were roaming calls, so the price per minute was high. For hooking up with fellow travelers in Italy, the time spent on the phone was minimal, so the total cost wasn't that bad. If you need a data plan, and intend on using the phone for lengthy periods for more than just calls, like Google Maps, then the cost can easily exceed $500 for a week. (She made that mistake once.)

I have an unlocked World Phone, and all I need is an Italy SIM. Finding English speaking help at phone stores in Italy is not easy, and the lines are always long at train stations and airports. I spent way too much time dealing with phones on my recent trip. Did not enjoy that at all. They are convenient when you want to separate and then reconnect while being out and about, but I find the process of getting them to work in a cost-effective manner frustrating.
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 06:01 AM
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For a trip to Japan I'm renting a mobile wifi device that will get me wifi nearly everywhere using the cellular systems. 10GB for a month is costing under $100. And I can connect up to 10 devices (phone, iPad, etc.) Of course, it doesn't handle phone calls but I'll have wifi so I can text via Messages and FaceTime, email and Skype if needed.

Is there anything like that for Italy? If you get by without actual phone calls that might be an option.
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 06:08 AM
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Is there anything like that for Italy?

It's called a data plan.

I used something similar to what you described while I was waiting for internet to be installed in my house. It was a mobile WiFi hotspot made by TP-Link. It worked well enough but it's easy to blow through your allowed 3G/4G/LTE bandwidth and get throttled to 1990's speed.
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 06:16 AM
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This doesn't help OP, but certainly in the Netherlands if you buy your phone from a provider (Vodafone or whatever) the phone is sim locked and can only be unlocked for a fee, or at the end of the contract period.
You can also buy unlocked phones and choose your own provider, who will then provide a Sim.

If OP can get the phones unlocked they can buy a pay as you go sim, but of course they will then have an Italian phone number.
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 08:24 AM
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I will check into getting our Iphones unlocked, or at least 1. The price they quoted was for each phone, so using 1 is a much better option. Do I understand correctly that if it is unlocked we could use a sim card but would have to have a different phone #?

Someone also recommended using What's App....you can text for free....anyone try that? Of course I would still use the phone, but in a diminished capacity...

Thanks for the info everyone...
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 09:48 AM
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Do I understand correctly that if it is unlocked we could use a sim card but would have to have a different phone #?

Correct. You phone number is more or less tied to the sim.


Someone also recommended using What's App....you can text for free....anyone try that?

Whatsapp only works if the party you are sending a text to also has Whatsapp so if you want to use it, make sure the people you want to text have it installed. It works great but requires a data/WiFi connection.
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 10:10 AM
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sparkchaser, that's a shame about the bandwidth issue with the TP-Link mobile hotspot. If not for that it could be an attractive option. The one I'm getting in Japan doesn't throttle.

Also, if you're texting on an iPhone to another iPhone or iPad or Mac computer they will use Apples Message and that works via the data side and not the cell phone carrier.
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 10:15 AM
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data side? Was ist das?
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 10:17 AM
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Regarding the TP-Link, bandwidth depends on the SIM you go with. I went with a cheap O2 plan. I'm sure if I looked harder I could have found one with a higher data limit.
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 06:44 PM
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update on my research.

att now does not let you unlock your phone while you are under contract to them. So we will be turning off our data and using the phone thru wifi only. if we text, or call others w/iphones there is no charge including facetime. that will actually work with most of our families that we would like to keep in touch with and some friends, so that is what we will be doing and we should be ok.

we will also use what's app and possibly another app called talkray that does the same thing but includes android devices...

thanks, eveyrone!
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Old Sep 16th, 2014, 08:14 PM
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>>if we text, or call others w/iphones there is no charge including facetime.

You know that this requires WiFi in your case?
All the communication apps including whatsapp require underlining network. Without mobile internet, which is your case, the only option is to be tethered to WiFi.
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 05:00 PM
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When we travel in Europe we find we use our ATT iPhones in several scenarios:

1) To keep in touch or check in with family at home in US (also includes family in US being able to reach us in case of emergency). Your phone will me able to make and receive calls or texts to/ from US. Charges will apply ( approx 50 cents per text and $2.99 per minute for calls). Alternatively you can but a calling plan or texting plan for approx $30 per month and texts will be 10 cents each and calls $1.99 per minute. We find this to be sufficient for our limited calling needs to US

2) internet access. We confine ourselves to using free wifi in our hotel or local restaurants. If we need local maps, we download maps that can be accessed offline-- such as City Maps to go app.

3) calling locally in Europe. Your phone will be able to make local calls in Europe at same international rates as if calling from US. We most often ask our hotel to make the calls/restaurant reservations, etc.

Hope this helps
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 05:05 PM
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We also use whats app which is a messaging/texting app that uses an Internet network or wifi to send messages rather than using a phone network.
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