Recent Cell Phone/Internet Access Tips for Italy

Applying to College
1

<p>My DD will be studying in Italy for the month of January. Anyone have any recent experience to share? DD has a Droid and is on Verizon (family plan). I don't think that's going to help her at all. Is pre-paid.pay-as-you-go phone (bought in Italy) the best bet?</p>

<p>What about internet service? The prof she is going with says they are staying in hotels for which you have to pay for the internet service. He said only McDonald's there have free wi-fi DH has been investigating but, so far no great options.</p>

<p>Anyone have any recent experience/suggestions to share? Thank you in advance.</p>

2

<p>Where in Italy is she staying or is she travelling around? Many hotels from higher end to lower level offer at least one free computer/business center for guest use and you can also find internet cafes and when in doubt, rent time at a computer in the library. It is generally not hard to find wi-fi in cafes. In terms of phone, my daughter studied abroad in Rome but it was several years ago. We rented a phone and sim card from Piccell Wireless and I called her from our landline using phone cards. Verizon service does not work in Europe.</p>

3

<p>bookmama: She will be staying in three different hotels, I believe. She won’t get the exact itinerary for another month. I’m hoping the profs are wrong (or maybe not up to date) about wi-fi access. Once we have the itinerary, we can do our own research about those areas. We have Verizon and already know that will be useless over there!</p>

4

<p>Since your daughter is only in Italy for a short time, you might check with Verizon to see if they have some kind of temporary plan with an associated carrier in Italy. Otherwise, I would recommend buying a very cheap phone in Italy and paying as you go. (Both of my sons did this when studying abroad for a semester in Italy.)
Wi-fi is available in some cafes and most hostels for free; I do agree that many hotels charge for wi-fi access in Italy.</p>

5

<p>As far as Verizon working in Italy I do not think it will and if it does the bill will be very expensive we are talking in the thousands of dollars for normal usage. The best way is to purchase an unlock GSM phone that is quad band check out ebay get an older phone price range $15-$75 should do the trick. I recommend purchasing the phone in the USA prior to leaving because electronics are typically cheaper in America.</p>

<p>Next purchase a prepaid or pay-as-you-go service provider in Italy. For cell phone service providers you can Google it and a list of providers may appear. If you are having trouble finding providers online here is a website that can help you [Vodafone[/url</a>]. I used their service while in Australia. It was the same company but in a different country. Also check this article out [url=&lt;a href=“http://rome.angloinfo.com/countries/italy/telecoms.asp]Telephone”&gt;http://rome.angloinfo.com/countries/italy/telecoms.asp]Telephone</a> & Internet Providers in Italy - AngloINFO Rome (Italy)](<a href=“Offerte Telefonia Mobile, Fibra e ADSL, Smartphone | Vodafone”>Offerte Telefonia Mobile, Fibra e ADSL, Smartphone | Vodafone)</p>

<p>As for Internet service many of the wireless cell phone providers also offer prepaid broadband cards these can start running you in different price ranges but honestly there should be more than enough free or inexpensive Internet caf</p>

6

<p>Thank you, dzWash. I will share this with DH as I have put in charge of this aspect of the trip. We already know that her Verizon/Droid will be useless there.</p>

7

<p>The Droid might not be worthless. </p>

<p>Verizon operates on a CDMA network, while the rest of the world (and AT&T in the US) operate on a GSM network. That is why Verizon phones do not work outside of the US but AT&T phones will. However, in the last year or two, Verizon has started to sell “global” phones which are both GSM and CDMA. If you have one of these phones, it will work in Europe. </p>

<p>In the Droid line, the Droid 1, Droid X, Droid X2, and Droid 2 are CDMA-only. The Droid 2 Global and Droid 3 are “global” (dual CDMA/GSM). The CDMA/GSM phones have a sim card in the back from Vodaphone (inside the battery case next to the slot for the micro SD card). If you call Verizon, they’ll activate this sim and the phone will work in Europe. However, when your daughter gets to Europe, she’ll likely want to purchase a pre-paid sim card at a Tabacchi to lower her cost.</p>

<p>If her phone isn’t global, you can also call Verizon and ask them about their “Global Services” program. It’s a program where Verizon will send you a global phone to be used around the world. The calls made on that phone go on your regular phone bill. The last time I did it, the phone was completely free as long as you sent it back undamaged within a certain time frame. </p>

<p>The best way to communicate with her, however, is not by cell phone. You’ll want to get acquainted with Skype and talk over that for free. The cell phone should just be for emergencies.</p>

<p>As far as internet is concerned, there are plenty of internet cafes where she can get on a for a few hours. Depending on the city, this may be her best option. It’s only a few euros per hour, so it’s not a big deal. You’ll also want to look into the hotels where she is staying. Even if the hotel charges for internet, some hotels will give you free internet if you are a member of their loyalty program. Starwood (Westin, W, St. Regis, etc.), Marriott, and Hilton all do this.</p>

8

<p>I second dzWash’s recommendation to get a prepaid/pay-as-you-go phone. Our son just got back from a semester in Italy and that was the way he and everyone he knew did it. It was convenient, easy, and not expensive.</p>

<p>That phone will be for the calls she’ll be making in Italy and Europe.
Wait till you get there to buy the phone. They are cheap and widely available.</p>

<p>For any calls back to the states, as BanjoHitter noted, Skype (or other similar services) are more than what you need.</p>

9

<p>Thank you all for your input. We will see where she is staying when she gets her itinerary in early December. For now, DH has more options to look into, thanks to all of you.</p>

<p>FYI - She’s got a Droid Incredible, in case that makes a difference. I just want her to have a cell phone for calls there. We’ll do skype. I guess we can iChat too if she’s in a place where she gets internet access, right?</p>

10

<p>I believe the Incredible is a CDMA-only phone, so it will not work in Europe (I believe the Incredible 2 will).</p>

11

<p>A cheap phone in europe or unlocked ebay phone can do the job if you want to be prepared before leaving the states, skype is the best option for speaking back home. And being totally honost DH will be so busy with all the new things going on around that there may not be enough time during the day to have long chats with people back home.</p>

12

<p>LINYMOM–she’s going to have a blast. My S1 spent last semester in Florence and the university that sponsored his particular study abroad program suggested that all the students buy their phones (cheap) and Italian pre-paid phone plans together from the same mobile provider so they’d all have free calls and texts to the other kids. Was something I never would have expected and those coming with phones from home were a little left out. My suggestion: talk to the organizers of your D’s trip. Their experience is probably going to be valuable in this area.</p>

<p>I also second Skype as the easiest and best way to communicate home–if your D has internet service available. I would pre-pay to be able to call (via skype on my pc) to my S’s cell for fast, important calls. Saved anything longer for free internet Skype when he was available to chat.</p>

13

<p>She can buy a pre-paid phone for about $50 (or less) when she’s there – doesn’t have to be an iphone…can be just a phone. Incoming phone calls are free.</p>

<p>She gets to Italy…walks into a phone store…and asks for a basic, bottom of the line pre-paid phone. Voila. Done.</p>

<p>Plenty of internet connections around … caf</p>