I found that I can buy a cell phone to use in Italy over the internet for about $90. I think that once I get to Italy, I need to buy a SIM card & that will provide me with the actual phone number. How are local calls & calls back to the States priced this way?

The second possibility seems to be buying the phone once I get to Italy. Pricewise is there a difference? Is one way better than the other?

Someone mentioned that calls either to or from the cell & the US were not charged. How does this work?

Thanks.

Why not just purchase a tri-band phone here in the US and get international service? I have a tri-band phone with T-Mobile service and it works wonderfully in most countries!

When I bought a phone in Italy, I didn't have to buy a SIM card; the phone came with the first 50.000 LIT (about 25 euro) of calls pre-paid (included in the purchase price of about $80 USD - - this was 2001).

After every call, the phone displayed the length of call, the cost (in lire), and how much in lire remained. And after every incoming call (I only received incoming calls form the US), the number of lire left was unchanged.

I have since read here, that the cost for my wife to call me on that phone was (perhaps?) higher than it would have been to call a "land-line" phone in Italy. didn't notice that, nor can I refute it.

It was an extraordinary bargain. I never even went through half of that initial "free" (included) 25 dollars of calls; when I wanted to talk to my wife at home, I called here and just had her call me back.

And I "sold it forward", here on this forum. Win-win.

Best wishes,

Rex

t

I have a similiar question. My daughter has a cell phone that she is using in France right now. We bought it used from another student but the phone originated in France. She was able to receive calls when we were in Holland, but she couldn't make any. Does it sound like this phone will work in Italy? If I bring it to Italy can I just go to a mobile phone store when I get there and get a sim card or whatever so I can make calls? Anyone ever do something like this?

michelleNYC's suggestion is OK but costs a lot of money. You will be charged special roaming rates on top of the international per-minute rate.

I have a tri-band phone as one of the freebies with my earlier SBC-Cingular subscription. I was able to get the codes, from my local Cingular manager, to unlock my phone and all I do is buy pre-paid Calling Cards with a new SIM cards in Europe. Works very well for local and overseas call when in Europe and I just lock it back in for local use when I'm back the States.

Isabel:

It's kind of odd that your daughter was able to receive, but not make, calls while in Holland. Since it is a European phone, it should be standard in terms of usability in Europe. If it is not a big deal, I would suggest that you take it with you to Italy and have the salesperson in the mobile phone store test it by putting in his/her owns's or store mobile phone's SIM card before you buy (it costs upward of Euro 50 for SIM plus 30minute-1hour calls).

We've had good results with EZ Wireless Communications. They ship the phone to your home before you leave. You do not need a SIM card. They have several different plans for Europe, and the rates are reasonable. The reception on the phone in Italy last year was crystal clear on calls to and from the US, better than my own cell phone when I'm calling my house from 2 miles away.
Go to www.rentacellularphone.com.
This is a recommendation only...I do not work for the company, nor do I receive any commission or incentive for this.

MichelleNYC's method is certainly convenient, especially if you're already a T-Mobile subscriber. T-Mobile is on the GSM network and all you need to do is get the T-Mobile SIM card for the country you will visit and, presto, your American cell will work without having to change its phone number. What's the down side? T-Mobile's rates for this service are higher than elsewhere. If you plan on using your phone a lot, it could cost you much more.

To answer Mimmel's query, $90 is a good price for a Tri-band phone but my research tells me brand and model number are far more important than price. Certain phones work much better in Europe than others, not unlike here in America. I know several European businessmen who do business in NYC and more than one recommended the Motorola Timeport for quality performance. I always care much more about performance than I do about size (every pun intended) and I've been quite happy with my phone. I don't use all the bells and whistles and I got this phone at a great price. Normally, it's quite expensive.

In Italy, the SIM card is called TIM and the TIM card not only provides you with your phone number, it also comes with 30 Euro's (typically) pre-paid worth of calls. You insert the TIM card underneath the phone's battery.

Legally, Italian merchants are not supposed to sell you a TIM card unless you can provide a local address. I've heard of several people making up an address or using their hotel's address to lock in this deal. It's not my nature to transact in the shade and I don't really care about spending $25 more if it spares me from having to lie. The TIM card is approximately $90, if purchased here in America, and I purchase my TIM from Telestial.com. I also understand that the rules may change and get stricter for TIM card purchases abroad. Terrorism has forced governments to take a second look at cell phone registration issues. I'm sure there will be more to come on this issue.

Cell phones are notoriously more expensive in Italy. The price for status there is insane and Italians view their cell phone as a status symbol, for sure. My Italian friends who do business here (NYC) all buy their phones in America.

Incoming calls are free on your TIM card. Rates for outgoing calls are supplied by the dealer. Don't hesitate to call a customer service rep at Telestial and ask any question. They're very helpful.

If I had the choice, I wouldn't buy my cell phones in America. The phones here are genereally considered to be outdated in technology, compactness and overall capabilitites versus the rest of the world.

Leading edge mobile phones originate from and are test-marketed in Asia and Europe. Due to strict regulations only a few of these high-end phones make their way here, and normally a year after they've been out elsewhere.
The cell phones in their stores there are so obviously much more cutting edge and modern than any that are available here.

BTW, when buying SIM cards in Europe, and when asked for a local address, salespersons seem not to mind at all when presenting one's hotel address (how can a tourist/traveler make-up one?) and transact sales without any apparent prejudice or hint of disregard for local laws.

If cell phone toys and technology give you an orgasm, Europe will offer the best. There's no doubt about that. And, you'll pay dearly for it. I don't love phones, I ignore most of the features and all I really want to do is make and receive calls with a quality connection. There are many low-priced phones available in America that provide this and more, the Motorola Timeport is just one. I saw many "cool" looking phones in Italy with a 400 Euro price tag and I'm sure there's no shortage of customers. Unless that phone comes with a first class ticket back to NYC, I'll pass. I have better things to do with my money.

How can a tourist make up an address? Easy. You pick a street name, pick a number, and provide a zip code and a city. I witnessed this between a phone salesman on via Tritone and a tourist once. Welcome to business in Italy.

We used our t-mobile phones in Europe last summer without a problem, and I didn't see any additional roaming charges.

I did compare the price of just buying a new sim card in London for each of the 3 of us, and frankly, between that cost and the time used vs. the time that I expected to be hanging on the phone, it was more to buy there.

Also, text messaging works really well and is cheaper. It works especially well in crowds where you can't hear much at the other end of the line because of noise.

It's not the roaming charges, dear, it's the price per minute. T-Mobile's price per minute is much higher than others. Again, savings depend on usage.

Ooops, I forgot, text messaging is for kids or skilled piano players. I'd prefer getting dysentery.

The question is how you're going to use your cellphone. I take my T-Mobile phone to Europe, and am willing to pay $0.99 or $1.50 per minute for emergencies, or if I need to call back to family members in the US (then I can have them call me back at my hotel). That's acceptable, and it's convenient, with no other costs.

However, if you're planning to use your phone daily and often, for more than a minute or two at a time, then using a US phone (T-Mobile or otherwise) would be very expensive. In that case, you'll need an unlocked phone (whether bought here or there) and a local SIM card.

Which of the viallages of the southern regions of Italy do these Italians that would come here and settle for local phones that are 1-year behind the ones that they sell in own country? They must be that so oblivious to the much more advanced telecommunications technology in Europe or they just simply can't afford to buy their more advanced, more sophisticated and more capable phones.

Even my business acquaintances in Europe, Italians included, scoffs at the backwardness of our local phones and systems.

Besides, TIM is the brand name of the SIM card sold by Telecom Italia. When purchasing in Europe, or anywhere else, SIM is the universal standard and industry name for Subscriber Identification Module.

NY, I respectfully disagree. 99 cents a minute isn't considerable unless you spend half your waking hours on the telephone.

Further, I believe that quietly writing a message to another cell phone user is more gentile than being forced to overhear personal conversations from loud speaking blowhards with a captive audience in an elevator or standing in line at a bank.

I have a Motorola Timeport, purchased over the internet for roughly $100. Great phone. I have an Oskar SIM card for the Czech Rep., as well as a TIM card for Italy, and another type for the Netherlands. Since I travel to each place at least once per year, my service is current, and I just add $ when I get there. If this is a one time trip for you, you might just do the T Mobile thing, even though it costs a lot. It would probably not be worth it to sign up with an overseas plan if you are just hanging out for a few days in a country. Also, even if you get an overseas plan, when you leave that country, you will be charged roaming in the next country you go to (which is why I have as many as 3 different SIM cards, since I make lots of long calls from each place). Text messaging is a great way to communicate, and you can save tons of money by using it. Also, many friends of mine have purchased used cell phones abroad, for as little as $25. Not bad, if you are only going to use it over there.

Hi amp - about how much do those SIM cards for Italy and Czech cost? I will have a French cell phone that I'm assuming I'll need to get sim cards for Italy and Czech for. Do I need them for each country? Do I need them if I just want to receive calls? Since I don't go to these countries every year I don't want to invest too much but it would be great if my family could call me while I'm there. I was thinking I could get a phone card to use in a payphone if I needed to make a call and most of the time I'd just have them call me. Would that work?

Now that I'm back from Paris I'll start focusing on my summer Italy/Prague trip so I'll be bugging you with lots of questions, I'm sure. At the moment I'm trying to rescheudle flights as volareweb just emailed me flight changes that are unacceptable (middle of the night flights).

I got my Italy TIM card on telestial.com

I do not remember how much it cost, but you can go on that site & see for yourself. My Czech friend got me my Oskar card & service plan about 4 years ago. I don't remember what it cost, either. Telestial sells a different Czech brand/carrier & it is equally as good, if not better than Oskar,when calling the US.

If you are not staying at least several weeks in each country, it does not pay to get separate SIM cards, unless you make lots of very long calls. On my Oskar plan, I set up an email account & was receiving emails all throughout my European trip at that number. I ended up switching around my SIM cards a lot, depending on if I wanted to make calls from Italy, or just receive email & SMS, etc. I'm sure you can set up email accounts on most carriers, but I didn't know how to do it with my Italian plan.

As stated before, you can use one plan/card in several countries, but roaming charges apply once you leave the home based country. You will need to weigh your options.

Also as stated before, none of this will work unless you have an unlocked tri-band (maybe dual band, depending on the model) phone.