I'm the first one to advocate using the "search" feature, however, it appears that cell phone (rental or purchase) information changes with the weather.
That being said, I will be in Italy for 3 weeks starting May 14th and would like to have a cell phone with me. I will be landing in Rome.
I've read information that I should purchase a cell phone when I get to Rome and I've also read that I can rent a cell phone before I leave and have it shipped to me.
What are the latest opinions of the fine folks on this board? Purchase or rent? One of the places I looked at renting a phone was T-mobile.com. The phone rental wasn't a bad deal, but they want $2.29 / minute to call the US. I have to believe there is a better deal than that.
Maybe I'll purchase one and let other "Slow Travelers" use the phone on their trips. We could just pass it back and forth between "Slow Travelers".
Thanks for any help.
Mark from Arizona
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,
Posts: 133 | Location: Arizona | Registered: 16 July 2002
Mark, We Purchased a phone and an Italian SIM chip through Omni last year when my daughter was studying in Florence. That way all your incoming are free. You just put more time on it when you run out. You can purchase the extra time from any tobacco stand anywhere.We are using the phone again this April when we go over again. We will be back on the 5th of May and would be happy to send it to you if you want to use it. It is not a fancy one by any means..but it did the job. Read omni's web page and see what you think.
Posts: 838 | Location: Nashville, TN USA | Registered: 11 September 2002
Mark, we go to Italy often so I purchased an Italian cell phone - "third-hand" - from someone who bought it for just one trip. Incoming calls are free. We use the phone for local and within Italy long distance calls; and use a pre-paid phone card from Costco or Sam's Club for calls back to the U.S. on the cell phone.
The time on the pre-paid card is gobbled up much faster when used internationally, but is still a good value. You can also buy an Italian International Phone Card at a tobacco shop to use with your cell phone. They are very cheap (they used to be about $10 for 60 minutes). I have used one in the past from a pay phone and didn't think the reception was very good, but others have had no problems.
I love having the cell phone so my family can reach me if necessary (I have elderly parents). But I usually use the regular phone at our villa rental or at hotels, if there's no surcharge, and I use my pre-paid card.
If you go to Europe fairly often, my suggestion would be to buy an inexpensive phone instead of renting one.
Sebastian who used to work at Planet Omni has started his own business selling Italian cell phones.
Here is an article that he wrote for us - that I will put on the web site:
In the mid 90s, when it was still a novelty to have a cell phone, occasionally someone I would know would pretentiously display his new toy expecting, perhaps, admiration or compliments or who knows what. Particularly if it were a friend, I would nonchalantly inform them that in Italy, as well as many other parts of the world, even 8 year olds have their own cellular phones. Even now when I convey this information to someone they are somewhat incredulous – at least initially and until I explain how and why that is possible.
First and foremost, in Italy, as well as virtually the rest of Europe, not to mention many other parts of the globe, incoming cell phone calls are 100% free. Also, since you can also pre-pay your calls, you can control how much money you want to invest in the outgoing call time without worrying about receiving unexpectedly high bills. You can also continue to receive incoming calls with zero remaining credit. Therefore, you can safely give your child a phone with either a low amount of credit or even no credit at all and he or she can still receive your calls. So, who cares what 8 year olds do with cell phones in Italy? Probably not many, but what is interesting is that you too, as a traveler to Italy, can take advantage of this innovative system. No longer is cellular communication in Italy a luxury only for the rich and famous tourist, or the jet-lagged and tired businessman.
It works like this. In Italy, as well as in 193 other countries around the world, the predominant cellular system is called GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). GSM cell phones allow you to slide in a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module) in order to get service. Therefore, you can purchase a prepaid Italian SIM card, slip it into a compatible worldwide GSM phone, and, without signing any contracts, get Italian cell phone service. Besides getting free incoming calls, you can call the United States or Canada for about $0.50 per minute and make domestic calls for as low as $0.15 per minute. This certainly beats paying the $2 or more per minute that cell phone rental companies and domestic providers charge you.
The quality of the service in Italy is exceptional and there is coverage throughout the peninsula and the islands. In fact, some carriers in the US, including T-Mobile, Cingular and AT&T have adopted the GSM system. Still, the coverage in Italy is better than what it is domestically due to the fact that the Italian telecommunication providers have invested enough resources in the technology and towers that there are very few spotty areas. So does that mean that if you are a T-Mobile or other GSM subscriber you can use your phone in Italy? Yes and no. Yes, because you can use your T-Mobile phone and T-Mobile service (and pay T-Mobile roaming prices) and no because you can’t simply put in an Italian SIM card and take advantage of the low rates and free incoming calls. Also, you need a tri-band phone even to roam on your current GSM provider’s network. In the US, providers have decided to use a different GSM frequency than the rest of most parts of the world (1900 Mhz as opposed to 900 and/or 1800 Mhz).
Many domestic GSM providers now offer tri-band phones that allow you to roam on their networks overseas. You cannot, however, take out your domestic chip and insert an Italian one. International roaming is a considerable part of domestic providers’ revenue so they “lock” their tri-band phones. That means that, even though cell phones come out of the factory compatible with any SIM card in the world , domestic providers manipulate the phones they sell so that they will only accept their own SIM cards. Perhaps if they allowed free incoming calls in the United States, 8 year olds here too could have cell phones thus enlarging the market so providers wouldn’t fell the necessity to try to squeeze us as much…but that’s another issue. Theoretically, US providers will unlock your tri-band GSM phone. I say theoretically because I have tried this and I can assure you that the carriers are reluctant to do so.
Luckily, unlocked tri-band phones are available for purchase. You can purchase one through vendors that are not directly affiliated with the GSM providers, or online, or in most countries, overseas. I would recommend purchasing one online through a reputable vendor since, with the exception of a few places such as Hong Kong, you are not likely to save much by buying one overseas. Once you have an unlocked phone, you can easily slip in different SIM cards for the different countries to where you will be traveling.
Italian SIM cards, as well as tri-band GSM cell phones, are available online through www.cellularabroad.com. You may be able to pick one up in Italy as well saving you some money but you are supposed to be an Italian resident in order to purchase one. Sometimes shop owners will close an eye to this regulation and sell you one anyway. However, if you pick up an Italian SIM card prior to your trip, not only will you know your number before you leave but you will be set up to start making calls as soon as you get off the plane.
In sum, it is now affordable to have a cell phone for use in Italy. The quality and coverage are exceptional and the rates are very low. Plus, you don’t have to be 8 years old in order to figure out how this all works!
Since our somewhat publicised misadventure with a car rental which broke down somewhere between Milan and Como last September (no fun, really, believe me!), we are determined to have a cell phone with us while travelling.
Various options were discussed on this board. I'd like to advance another option.
It is my understanding that one can use locally in Toronto, for example, a GSM-capable phone, which can then be taken anywhere where the company providing it (in my case, Rogers AT&T) has coverage or agreements for coverage . These telephones cost around CAD500 (circa USD335), but in most cases they can be obtained as upgrades to an existing cell phone. In this case the cost of the upgrade drops for us to CAD200 (USD135) and we will be entitled to it in June, based on the time we had our existing phones.
The benefit is that, when travelling, one does not have to buy any other phones or any cards, because one uses the usual personal cellular and coverage is available in most European countries, certainly Italy, France, Germany, Spain, etc. Calls are charged to the home cell number per call and, for outgoing calls, roaming charges. Since our intention is to use this phone mostly for emergencies, the cost per call issue becomes academic.
Since Rogers partners with AT&T, this option may also be available in USA.
I will keep you all updated in due course with our experience in acquiring and using this type of cellular.
Posts: 5705 | Location: Toronto | Registered: 26 May 2002
I think you may get cheaper rates in Canada. Liz from Vancouver mentioned this to me once. But in the US, using our US plan (AT&T or T-Mobile) and a world phone is really, really expensive. You pay $1/min for incoming or outgoing calls in Italy. Then you pay the long distance charges if someone calls you in Italy on your US phone number. A good solution if you don't plan to use the phone much or if you need it for business reasons (so people can call you without having to dial a European number) - but pretty expensive.
Hmmm...So what to do here? After reading all this I'm still a little confused. I recently got a new tri-band T-Mobile phone. I was told I could have it "unlocked" and be able to use it in Italy for .99 cents a minute incoming and outgoing calls.
Pauline, you said "Then you pay the long distance charges if someone calls you in Italy on your US phone number." What exactly does that mean? There are charges on top of the .99 cents a minute? What if all your "long distance" calls are free in your plan?
Also, is it possible to buy (upon arrival in Italy) a pre-paid SIM card that will work in this phone? If so, where?
Kristina, if you can get your world phone unlocked, then all you have to do is buy a SIM card in Italy when you get there from any TIM or WIND store - they are everywhere. Or order one before you go from Sebastian's company. With the Italian SIM card you will not be using your T-Mobile service plan - you will be using the Italian plan (either TIM or WIND).
Unlocking a phone means allowing the phone to be used with other cellular providers. So you can have a T-Mobile chip for when you are in the US and an Italian SIM for when you are in Italy.
When you purchase your SIM card you get an Italian phone number and some prepaid time. Usually you pay about $25 for the card and phone number, then another $25 for the prepaid time. You recharge this time as described on my page about cell phones.
However, I have heard that T-Mobile (formerly VoiceStream) will not unlock phones. They might be wanting you to use their service in Italy. Then you pay the $1/min incoming and outgoing calls. With an Italian SIM card incoming calls are free, long distance to the US calls are cheap, outgoing calls are maybe $.25 per minute.
They do not say what you pay if someone calls you from the US. Find that out. And what you pay if you call the US from Italy on your cell phone. They imply that it is $.99/min incoming and outgoing no matter where you call - this is still expensive, but okay if you are not using the phone much (emergencies only).
I called T Mobile this morning. I was told that I could use my phone and all calls would be .99 cents a minute in Italy. There are no additional charges. If my husband calls me from his T mobile, his call to me is free, only I would pay. If he calls me from our home phone to my cell phone then we both would end up paying! I was also told I "should" be able to purchase a SIM card once I get there and use it with no problem. Since I will only be there for a week, I'm not sure it's worth a $50 expense though. If I were going to be there a month, I'd definately try to get a SIM card. Also, I have an international calling plan with MCI that will allow me to call home (or be called at a hotel) for .09 cents on weekends and .19 cents/min weekdays. I will still bring my cell phone for emergencies. It's nice to know it's an option.
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