Does WIND offer prepaid data/GPRS plans?
 

Hi--

I'll be traveling in Italy over the holidays with an unlocked T-Mobile MDA (aka HTC Wizard) and while I won't need to make many voice calls, having GPRS access for email & web stuff would be great. The plans mentioned in the sticky post about WIND sound ideal, but I haven't had any luck finding a supplier for prepaid SIM cards on this provider. (Most places that do offer them seem to have discontinued it in favor of TIM cards).

So my question is, does WIND even offer pre-paid plans for someone in my situation? And if not, are there any other pre-paid cards that have decent data plans in Italy?

Thanks for your help!
--
Eric

"So my question is, does WIND even offer pre-paid plans for someone in my situation? And if not, are there any other pre-paid cards that have decent data plans in Italy?"

Yes, and Yes :)

WIND and TIM have a variety of data offers.

Over the Summer I used WIND 5gb for 30 euros per month, and TIM 9Gb (not for use between 9am and 5pm Mon-Fri), for 25 euros. I used them in an HTC TyTN and a datacard in my laptop.

I think you would have to buy the SIMs when you get there, and they dont sell them in Naples or Catania airports.

Try and identify a shop to buy the sim from before you get there - I didnt find it easy. Where are you going first?

Cheers

Richard

Thanks for your help Richard! I'll be arriving in Rome & staying mainly in that area. If anyone has recommendations for good shops at the airport or elsewhere in Rome, I'd appreciate your advice.

Also, i came across this site while researching:

http://www.saveonroaming.net/Home.html

And it seems to say that it's important to get a special "Codice Fiscale" before purchasing a SIM in Italy. Anyone have experience with this part of the process, or know whether it's absolutely necessary?

Thanks again!

Absolutely necessary :( But take a look: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/italy.html
Codice Fiscale, what's that?

In Italy you cannot buy any prepaid mobile sim-card without having a "codice fiscale". What's that? In English it sounds like "fiscal code", it's a unique code for each person in Italy (and in theory in the World), which identifies that person for the Italian Fiscal department. You need the CF for any registration in Italy, and it's the same for sim-cards, both pre and postpaid. How can a foreign person buy a sim-card, so? There are 2 way a "perfectly legal one" (and I'm not sure it works) and a "fast one". If you speak Italian and are ready for some bureocracy go here and look for the closest "Agenzia delle entrate" in Italy, then go there with your passport and you should (not sure about it) get a "legal" Codice Fiscale.
The "fast way" is much easier: go to this site, it's in Italian, but don't worry, it's not difficult to understand, since I'll translate that for you! ;-)
Cognome: surname
Nome: name
Sesso: sex (m=male, f=female)
Comune di nascita (o Stato estero): this is the hardest thing to do! You have to write the name of your country, but you have to do it in Italian! i.e. United States is Stati Uniti, New Zealand is Nuova Zelanda, Germany is Germania, Greece is Grecia, and so on. You can use Babelfish to translate your country's name into Italian, it should work.
Prov.: if you are not Italian just write EE
Data di Nascita: birthdate (giorno=day, mese=month, anno=year)
At this point you just have to click on "Calcola il tuo Codice Fiscale" and you finally have your own CF! I suggest you to print the page and keep it with you, you shouldn't have any problem to buy a prepaid card now, and if you have, it's not your fault, but it's some Italian dealer that cannot do his/her job well! And it happens..."