Prepaid cell phones in Italy?
 

Is it possible to get prepaid cell phones in Italy that will have the capability of calling the USA? We have our cellphone activated to be used there but one member was interested in getting a prepaid phone in order to telephone her office frequently and hopefully get better rates. Will landing in Rome then transferring to Sicily.

You should look at getting a phone that operates on the UMTS network and accepts Skype mobile. Then get a pay as you go (PAYG) SIM card with the Three network.

They are currently offering a phone - Samsung Pocket at Euro 49. The best PAYG tariff is called 3Power 10 which means -
10 cents a minute for calls to all Italian numbers, no fixed per call connection fee and 10 cents per sms. This tariff costs a one off Euros 5. A SIM card cost Euros 10 and has Euros 5 of credit included.

You should then ask for the Super internet option which costs Euros 5 per month but is actually free the firts month! This will enable you to download 3GB a month and make up to 600 minutes of Skype calls a day. I think this should be sufficient!

It is important to benefit from the data tariff that you are under the Three network coverage so make sure that your phone's network coverage is set to manual rather than automatic.

I think any prepaid phone can call US.
Frequently and better rate? Does it have to be from a cell phone? I think the lowest rate is thru some kind of VOIP, such as Skype. But that requires something that can run Skype. I have a Nokia phone that can do this, but I think it's processor is somewhere around 340mhz and is not fast enough to do Skype VOIP processing without maddening delays. The Skype runs well on 1.6ghz or faster Netbooks. Another cheap way is to use an international phone card you can buy in Italy. You get about 200min call to U.S. for about 5EU. You can combine with the cell phone or use a hotel room phone.

Use a forwarding service like Localphone.com and your office can call YOU for a few cents a minute, because your Italian phone (assuming you get a local Italian company SIM) will most likely have free incoming calls. You can always the US for one minute and have them call you right back on the forwarded (US area code) number, cheap or even free for them if they have free domestic US long distance.

Thanks everyone. I have shared the info and hopefully she will decided what she wants to do before arriving.