For long-term internet mobile access, I arrived in Italy and activated the Vodafone MiFi device that I purchased for 29E that included 7GB of data for two months (then the price goes up a bit). This is a wireless "pocket" modem so you don't have to look for an internet hotspot, you are carrying the hotspot with you.

I think it's better than adding an AT&T international plan for long term use, but the jury is still out for even short term use, in my opinion. The AT&T plan even for 300MB, 80 minutes of talk, 50 texts, is over $100. If you are here on vacation and the people you need to communicate with are with you and you just need to send an occasional message back home, it's probably OK. But if you are working here and your family, friends, etc, are back home it's almost impossible to not go over the limits, and receive huge phone bills. I doubt that any U.S. carrier will work.

For those who would consider the Vodafone MiFi package, here is my opinion after three days of use. It is small, the size of a very small cell phone. However, carrying it with an iPhone in my suit pants pocket makes quite bulge, and is not comfortable. It would work with baggy pants, but not with a form-fitting pair of pants. It would be fine if carried in a briefcase or purse, or even when wearing a pair of jeans when it doesn't matter, but it's not optimal for men's dress pants when coupled with a phone.

On my first day I was glad to be free having to count the limited MB's of the AT&T plan, and was enjoying having GB size limits, taking pictures and texting them, talking to people on Skype while in the street, etc., when all of a sudden online access went dead. The short battery life on an iPhone can be a problem. In this case, my fully charged Vodafone MiFi battery ran out while my iPhone still had 45% of its charge. In other words, you can't just leave it on and receive texts, emails, calls on Skype, so that you are always online and have immediate internet access like in the U.S., because the battery only lasts less than a cell phone battery. You have to leave it off, and then turn it on when you need to use it. This can be a problem if the goal is to carry the "hotspot" with you so as to always be internet accessible.

That said, it's good device for stopping at a bar for a coffee or a glass of wine, turning it on, and browsing the hometown papers, catching up on emails. But, mine stopped working after the first day. I went to the local Vodafone store (they seem to be everywhere), and they said I'd have to call customer service, for this brand new device. I asked where that was, and they said in Rome (I'm in Torino). I asked how I can stop the service if we can't get it to work again, because after the two month special runs out, the monthly service charge is automatically charged to my credit card. They told me that to cancel I need to write a letter to the company. I asked where, and they printed out a form that goes to a P.O. Box somewhere in Italy, requesting cancelation of service.

I insisted that they change the SIM card, to see if a bad SIM card was why it only worked for one day. It did start working again an hour after they changed the SIM, but we will see, as its only been a few hours.

I think a better deal, and someone bought it while I was waiting for 45 minutes to talk to someone at the Vodafone store, is a cheap Samsung phone they sell for 35E, and for 12E you get 4 hours of talk time, 50 text messages, and 1GB of high speed internet. When it's done, you can either throw the phone out, or go to the Vodafone store and pay 12E for another round data/text/talk. Buying the phone, and two or even three rounds of the plan, is way cheaper than adding the AT&T overseas plan to an iPhone.