Travel Technology - Italian SIM - where to buy in Florence

My daughter will be studying in Florence and other Italian cities for a month this summer. Can anyone recommend a provider and purchase location? Most calls will be to other group members using local SIMS (she will have an unlocked phone with correct freqs). Calls home to USA will be on prepaid telcom card. Info i have seen indicates lot of paperwork to buy local SIM. Could buy US prepaid sim but she leaves in 10 days. thanks for any information.

When I moved to Switzerland I wan able to asily buy one, without alot of paperwork, I went in with my passport (which is required) told them I wanted a SIM card, gave them my local address, and 50CHF later I had a local SIM. I'm sure this processis no different in Italy.

As for Italian providers, my Swiss phone usually switches to T-Mobile when I cross the border. I'm sure there are many other providers and walking around the city wil yeild tons of shops. All she has to do is pick one. The school she is studying at should be able to provide some information on it.

My daughter will be studying in Florence and other Italian cities for a month this summer. Can anyone recommend a provider and purchase location? Most calls will be to other group members using local SIMS (she will have an unlocked phone with correct freqs). Calls home to USA will be on prepaid telcom card. Info i have seen indicates lot of paperwork to buy local SIM. Could buy US prepaid sim but she leaves in 10 days. thanks for any information.

It's no more difficult for her to buy a SIM card in Florence than it would be in Cincinnati. Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) and others all have multiple shops in the area and will happily sell a pay and go SIM card. At most, she will be asked for a contact address and some ID (a passport is fine).

The ONLY thing that can go wrong is that the phone isn't unlocked and doesn't operate on European frequencies.

One thing worth noting is that most networks in Europe charge for toll free numbers at local rate. Occasionally locally-bought cards will use toll free access numbers that are blocked by the mobile networks. Neither is a major issue - just don't expect free calls to the calling card access number. The cards with blocked toll free numbers will almost always have an alternative access number with a regular local area code.

Another issue I have seen is providers such as TIM blocking international access for a couple days when you activate a pre-paid SIM. For many trips I used SIM from the countries I visited, but IMHO it is becoming harder to do so in a quick and easy fashion so I moved to using a roaming SIM card from United Mobile. Free incoming calls in most countries and $0.49/minute to call back to the States.

http://www.united-mobile.com

When I purchased an Italian SIM card in Bolognia, all I had to do was show them my passport. No paperwork at all. I purchased the SIM at the airport Vodafone store.

Thanks for the information. I think I will have her buy it in Florence. Her school was suggesting Piccell, but a local SIM will be much cheaper.

Yes it will be much cheaper to buy it here. There are 4 operators (3, Tim, Vodafone, Wind).

I recommend "3" if she currently has an unlocked phone that is compatible with the 3G technology. Even with prepaid services, she can get the "Unlimited" International Calls (50 hours) for 15 euros for the month, the sim will initially cost 5 Euros.

If she has a basic GSM phone or want to buy one, TIM and Vodafone are both 5 euros for the initial card plus traffic. I think they offer also an unlimited international calls option; she should check because without that, it is about 50 euro cents/ minute.

F

I was just in Florence last week, and saw several shops (at least a half dozen) with signs saying they were selling SIMS and phones. I wasn't looking for them, they were just there. There were also several of the official company stores (I saw WIND and TIM ones) that probably sell them too.

The independant places were so obviously getting ready for tourist season with the hand written signs, etc.

Hi, there is a website that explains how to buy a prepaid SIM card at cost price: www.saveonroaming.net (http://www.saveonroaming.net)

An insider trick: you buy a TIM prepaid SIM card for 5 Euros and then go to 3 and ask for number portability. You will get for 39 Euros an LG U300 (instead of 169). And then activate the option "Internazionale senza limiti" as said before.
Otherwise, a call costs you 25 eurocents/min.

More infos about Italy can be found here (http://www.saveonroaming.net/Italian_Operators.html)

I was just in Florence last week, and saw several shops (at least a half dozen) with signs saying they were selling SIMS and phones. I wasn't looking for them, they were just there. There were also several of the official company stores (I saw WIND and TIM ones) that probably sell them too.

The independant places were so obviously getting ready for tourist season with the hand written signs, etc.

Hello, there is a website that explains how to buy a prepaid SIM card at cost price: www.saveonroaming.net (http://www.saveonroaming.net)
Useful infos about italian mobile phone operators can be found here
(http://www.saveonroaming.net/Italian_Operators.html)