We will be in Italy 4/3 thru 5/8/02 traveling by car. Want Cell use in Italy and ability to/from USA . Have quotes fron 2 US companies & usage rates seem high, aprx $1.75/$3.00 min. Should we rent in Italy upon arrival? What has your experience been?<BR>Please offer referals, company names/contact info. <BR>Grazie Mille ! Ciao !

I am interested in this question too. Last year I had a terrible time using the phone cards in Italy. They either didn't work, or when I did get through, I could not hear the person on the other end.

For that length of time in Italy, you should be looking into purchasing a European cell phone and then buying pay as you go vouchers.<BR><BR>Let me explain my understanding of how this works. I was in England for the better part of 3 weeks. I bought an inexpensive cell phone for 49.99 poounds. This included a SMS card for a British cell provider. I was told I could take the same phone to Italy, buy a SMS package for an Italian provider, switch the SMS cards and voila I am on the way.<BR><BR>The nice thing about cell phones in England (and I presume Italy) is you do not pay for calls you receive. You also have 1 stable phone number where your friends can reach you. Rates to the US vary depending on the provider but Virgin mobile in England charges 20p for minute to call the US; far far better than from a pay phone or hotel phone. Worked perfectly.<BR><BR>I believe this is the direction you should be looking into and maybe some people who have been to Italy can help with rates and providers etc.

See this thread:<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&tid=1323447<BR><BR>which I have topped for you - - about buying a phone - - now (maybe) about to embark on its "fourth generation" Fodorite usage! <BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

to the top<BR>

Let me describe the myth regarding cell phone use in Europe.<BR>I have a Motorola i2000 phone that is a GSM phone that can be used in Europe. My thought was, all I had to do was to buy a sim card for it in Europe and all would be well. I then proceeded to email Motorola about this and I quote:<BR>Your Question / Comment:<BR><BR>If I have a i2000 Motorola phone, can I use sim cards furnished by companies in France and Italy for phone use in these countries? Please explain.<BR><BR><BR>Our Reply:<BR>Thank you for your inquiry. The i2000 plus unit operates on the GSM and iDEN infrastructure System with the SIM card that is provided by the Carrier from whom the unit was purchased. For example, if the unit was purchased from Carrier (A), then the unit will only work with Carrier (A)'s SIM card, which came with the unit. This SIM card has all the information necessary for that unit to operate and register on a GSM network or an iDEN network. If a SIM card from another Carrier is put into the i2000 plus, the phone will not operate. For information about the special code please contact your service provider, the code the phone is referring to is a subsidy lock and only the service provider can resolve this code. <BR>We would advise you to contact the dealer from which the unit was purchased. Additional questions can be directed to the iDEN Customer via email or 1-800-453-0920.<BR>In other words, you can't buy a cell phone in France and use it in Italy unless the same company serves both countries. <BR>

Check out Voicestream at 877-666-4246. You can rent a phone from them for $49.00 for 30 days that will work in US and Europe. <BR><BR>You get a battery charger and a car charger with the kit plus xtra battery. The per call charges are less than you quoted above. <BR><BR>They FedEx the phone to you before you leave the US so you can leave your phone number with contacts. When you return to US you put the phone back in the preaddressed paid FedEx envelope and send it back. Your phone bill for calls made shows up about 45 days later. <BR><BR>I have used them on 4 trips (Italy for 2 weeks once) and it has always worked well. The calls are not cheap but it is a convenient way to take a phone to Europe. They also have a web site at Voicestream.com.

Okay I'm confused : )<BR>I was under the impression that if you have Voicestream service and buy their triple band phone, you can go to Italy and buy prepaid calling service and just temporarily swap the SIM card? Did I read correctly above that the phone is locked and won't accept the new card? Please clarify, thanks

I suspect Voicestream rental, and other similar phones, are locked to their service provider, preventing you from using a local SIM card and cutting costs (it won't be in their interest to allow this). The key to using a variety of local pre-pay SIM card is to get an unlocked phone, or have it unlocked either by service provider (who usually demand a steep payment for the unlocking code to compensate for 'phone subsidy') or any number of phone shops who provide an unlocking service for US$15-20. GSM in use in Europe operate on 900MHz or 1800MHz, instead of US 1900MHz. Most European operators allow you to roam throughout Europe with the same SIM and phone number, though costs are quite high (typically $2-3/min to US) and you are charged for receiving (around $1.50/min), and you have to recharge the phone a lot before leaving the operator's home country (you can't normally recharge while out of country). You find details on their websites. Sadly not many non-UK operators have theirs in English because service providers operate locally, even if under the same name. So Orange France and Orange UK are quite separate organisations and their SIM cards aren't interchangeable.

what a mess!<BR>

Just checked this out. All major supermarket chains constantly have promotional offers in this field. This morning I saw an Ericsson A2618 Dual Band (better reception) Vibration plus Euro 25 worth of calls INCLUDED in the price of Euro 99. The contract was with Wind which charges all calls made on a per second basis whereas many others have a minimum charge for each call (wonderful for Italians returning home for lunch - my darling kitchen serve you can start cooking the spaghetti - this IS a joke). No charge for receiving calls in Italy and the tariff for phoning the US is one of the best.

The price doesn't seem that special to me - - unless the dual band really does make a difference perhaps. I paid a bit less than that last September for a phone with a Wind contract also - - and same first 25 (EUR? or USD - - I forget)free calls included. I was very pleased with the service - - especially the free incoming calls.<BR>

Wind Italian service is one of the best.<BR>Wind customers are able to revalue their pre-paid mobile accounts at any ATM/cash machine across Italy. After inserting their ATM card and keying in their PIN, subscribers simply inputs the phone number of the account to be recharged and the desired amount. The credit is added immediately.<BR>

ttt<BR>

Sorry to pull you over on this one Rex but my message was to give people an idea of the relative cost of a promotional offer and not the absolute best offer if one really goes shopping around- Second in September the Euro was not a money in circulation and the card in your phone would have had a Lire 50,000 credit and certainly no dollar amount.<BR>Tut Tut you are slipping up!

Ian,<BR><BR>You are absolutely right - - I knew it shouldn't have been either, but my brain locked up on me. Of course, you are right - - it was 50.000 ITL credit. How quickly we are going to forget all those old currencies - - huh?<BR><BR>Rex<BR>