My friend's daughter is leaving for Florence next week. Cell phone service is the issue at hand. Without being politically correct, the daughter is a blond joke waiting to happen. Sure, she should be old enough to handle this, but......we laugh alot and drink alot of wine ...

1) Should she buy a cell phone/service once she arrives in Florence?
2) What can she buy here in the states?
3) ????

She'll need to call new friends while in Italy and then home to keep in touch with family and lol get her out of her latest predictament.

Thanks in advance!

Cheryl

I haven't had to get a phone in Italy in particular, but I've studied in other countries in Europe, and I think people generally just get phones when they arrive. In Europe, its more common to use a pay-at-you-go phone, so you just buy the phone with a sim card and just pay for additional minutes as you use them. It's easier than in the US, where you typically get a contract.

In Ireland, I had a vodafone phone (I think they operate in Italy too). It was a great deal because when I bought the phone, it came with some credits included. Its also free to receive calls and texts, and you could send texts for free from their website, so I used it for a year and I dont think I ever had to buy additional credits.

If she has access to a computer, I'd use Skype to call home, which is free once you download it on a computer.

I saw the same question for France. I've passed that on to my friend........

I agree, have her buy a phone and the SIM card when she arrives in Italy. I use to have a phone for Italy along with the SIM card of course and it is wonderful to not be charged for incoming calls and texts. I can't remember if I paid when sending texts however.

Uhm, I bet your friend's blonde daughter will have a lot of the Italian male students wanting to get acquainted with her as they usually love blondes, lol! Wishing her a wonderful time in Florence.

I have frequently posted on this subject. The best network is offered by www.tre.it with the 3Power 10 top up service. There is nothing cheaper.
You must have a umts phone though. If you get the data coverage Euros 5 per month then apart from using the internet you can use Skype on your phone to call home. However before you load Skype mobile check that the umts phone also accepts it otherwise you will have to load something like Fring.

P.S. you should tag this under Italy to get more replies

These days it should be a cinch to get a cellphone while over there. (I began to travel to Italy regularly in the early 90's and would often rent a phone here that would work over there. I did this in case any family members needed to contact me while I was there, due to the fact I had parents who weren't in the best of health. On the reco of a friend, I used this company):
https://www.piccellwireless.com/latest/index.php

Now that we're in the age of tri and quand-band phones, however, I was able to get a new phone with a new SIM card, and now my fine functions well in Europe, just with my own American phone number.

BC

I have an unlocked Italian cell and Sim that works very well, so I, too, suggest buying there. I also have a blonde daughter who may best be described as an accident waiting to happen. Amazingly, she always land on her feet.

Thanks everyone. She is the most beautiful young woman with a big heart. She is going to fall in love with Italy and a few young men will have their hearts broken. I'm here to keep Mom sane with the last minute rush and the 4 months of missing her daughter.

If ease of use and simplicity are your key concerns then I would rent a SIM and/or handset from a trusted provider. Cellhire do Italian SIM/handset rentals that take away all the worry and concern for a non-technical person.

http://www.cellhire.co.uk/products/i...simcards/italy is an Italian SIM that costs £5 a week plus an initial £15 one-off set up. After that calls back to the UK are 30p per minute. Just keep it as long as you need and pay in arrears for what you use. Your friend's daughter will never be out of credit because it's not pre-paid.

You also get the SIM/phone delivered to your door and they give you a pre-paid envelope to post it back in. Just like getting a Lovefilm DVD in fact.

Italian sim cards cost €10 with €5 of credit...why would anyb ody want to pay £5/week with a £15 to rent? Please...the above is some sort of spam.

All the advice is there. As a matter of fact, if you are like most people and are constantly upgrading your phone, you might already have a quad band gsm phone which all you need do is have unlocked by your carrier (AT&T and T Mobile USA are GSM carriers. If not, as others have suggested she can wait till she arrives in Italy, she can go to a store of one of the providers (TIM and WIND are very good), buy an inexpensive cell phone with a sim card. The clerk should be able to help her set up the phone and both TIM and WIND allow the sim card to be set to English for voice mail and menu options such as topping up. Topping up is easy...most tabachis sell top up cards for the service providers. It is very very simple, even a caveman can handle it. (sorry GEICO).

I'm aware there are cheaper options on the ground but the writer suggested that the goal was something simple, out-of-the-box that took away any technical concerns and something that could be bought prior to travel. The rental option may be a little more expensive but it means you have a phone that you know works when you touch down and is ready to go rather than have to find a newsagent or store before you can call home. For some parents, including myself, that extra peace of mind is worth an extra 10 or 15 euros. Also, because it's not pre-paid I don't have to worry about my kids running out of credit and having to top-up. Most parents will tell you that kids forget this stuff when they're abroad and then they're out of contact. So not spam - just a different option that's not all about raw cost.

Please Darwin.....we're not talking a little more expensive. To repeat, Itlian sim cards are dirt cheap and I am sure the young lady will be able to handle this. It ain't brain surgery.

"I can't spell VW...but I drive a Porsche - because I'm blonde."
- from an 80's song.

Get a phone there, there will be more than enough Italians ready to help her with her phone service (not sure if that's a good or bad thing). Buying a sim card in Italy will give you the cheapest local calls (and free incoming calls).

I would plan something else as the best way to phone home. I use a country specific pin card (purchased at news stands) for calls home.

As a postscript, I've just found out that Cellhire also do student-specific offers and do so from a US-based website and office. These have a cheaper student-friendly rate - a one-off $19 fee which is €15 euros. Plus free-shipping each way.

http://www.cellhire.com/edu/products/italy