I have a motorola nextel cell phone. Will it work in Florence? Can I plug the charger in to their outlets?? <BR> What is the best way you found to call the states. Phone card???

It depends. Ask Nextel. <BR>

Marie, <BR> <BR>1) Your phone must operate on the GSM network, and must be a dual-band phone. I also have a Nextel Motorola phone at work (i 1000 plus), and it is neither GSM nor dual-band. It will place international calls from here. European phones operate on a different frequency on the GSM network from phones in the US also on the GSM network. <BR> <BR>2) If your charger says something like "110-240v - 50-60 Hz" (this is what my Motorola charger says), you can simply get a plug adapter to convert to the Italian prong configuration and plug it in. Otherwise, you'll also need a transformer to change the voltage from Italian (220v) to USA (110v).

Marie, <BR>You need a model i2000 Motorola phone to use in Europe as well as in the States. <BR>We used it last summer throughout Europe and it was great. <BR>Calls to the states from France, Italy, Germany and most western European countries are $.99/minute. <BR>The i2000 is a dual-mode handset that contains software that works on two digital frequencies, the iDEN 800 MHZ and the GSM 900MHZ networks. The iDEN network covers the U.S. and South America while the GSM covers most of Europe, Asia, and Africa. <BR>Unless you already subscribe to Nextel, it is better to buy a phone in Europe to make calls. Another advantage buying phone in Europe is that all incoming calls to your cell phone are free. <BR>If you do subscribe to Nextel, I would consider upgrading your present phone to the i2000 which can be used wherever you are in the world for present and future trips.

I rented a tri-band Motorola phone from a company in the US, the phone worked in Europe and the US, they provided an adapter to charge the battery in Europe. <BR>The web-site for the company is www.overseascell.com.