Andrew

I have an unlocked GSM phone, too. (an old Motorola "flip phone"). It was originally a US phone, but I hacked it to make it work in Europe. Europe and the US use different GSM frequencies, so not every GSM phone used in the US will automatically work in Europe, even if unlocked. If yours is a "world" GSM phone (quad frequencies) it should work in Europe - and if it is unlocked, it should work with a local SIM card.

If a new Verizon "global phone" is unlocked and supports GSM, it should also work fine in Italy. (By default, Verizon US phones use something called CDMA technology, not GSM - kind of like a VHS VCR or a Beta VCR, you can't use tapes with one in the other VCR. Think of a Verizon "global phone" as one that can do both VHS and Beta.)

I've used my Motorola phone in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, and Czech Republic with local prepaid SIM cards, and all have worked well. Mostly I've wanted a European cell phone when driving to have an emergency phone or to have a phone to reach B&B owners if I turn up early or late or something.

There are also tricks to allow people from the US to call you cheaply on these European phones. The key idea is that European mobile phones - even prepaid cheap SIM cards - have unlimited free incoming calls. There are forwarding services you can sign up for online that will forward from a US phone number to any phone number in the world. Someone in the US calls said US phone number - long distance at worst for them, probably free from their US cell phone - and it forwards to your European cell phone...which has free unlimited incoming calls. The only thing you pay for is the forwarding service which costs something per minute, somewhere between 10 cents and 25 cents a minute, depending on the country.

One forwarding service I've used is LocalPhone. You sign up for an account online and enter phone numbers that your friends and relatives will call FROM...and then you enter the European number to forward TO. Say your sister wants to call you - you enter your sister's phone number into your account profile, and then LocalPhone tells you to have her call a specific phone number to call you. Whens she calls that number, they forward calls to your European cell phone, and a certain amount per minute is deducted from your LocalPhone account credit.

You can also do call forwarding with Skype, but you must also buy a US Skype phone number ahead of time (about $18/3 months). Then Skype can forward calls (per minute fee varies by country) to your European cell phone as well. The nice thing about having a US Skype phone number is that you can use it for free incoming calls (without any forwarding costs) anywhere in the world, as long as you are logged into your Skype account (e.g. with a US smartphone using free WiFi in Italy). That is, if you have WiFi and some internet device with a microphone and a speaker/headphones or just a WiFi phone, people can call you on the US phone number and it will "ring" and you can answer it and talk for free.

Cjar

Thanks for all of the great information. I truly appreciate all of you taking the time to respond.

patandhank

cjar - we purchased Mobal straight from the internet and it was shipped to us. We've used it in Africa, Tahiti, China and all over Europe. For us this is a great choice

hollywoodsc

I bought a SIM card in Italy. For 20 euros it came with unlimited internet and a package of calls/texts. I re-loaded it once during my 3 week trip with another 10 Euros.
I unlocked my Blackberry before I left the US (downloaded a program online $9, they 'talked' me thru the process)
Another option is to buy 2 cheap phones & packages once you land in Italy. That way you'll be able to call each other, use internet, get info while you're traveling. You can text your new # to whoever requires it back in the US and it will be on their dime if they chose to call you.

Cjar

Thank you great suggestions from all. I think our best bet is to replace the sim in a new "global phone". Hopefully Verizon has pulled it together as they have assured me their new global phones will work in Italy. If all else fails, we can always purchase phones in Italy as suggested.