So confused. BlackBerry in Italy
 

hello! thank you everyone for creating a forum like this. i am a college student about to study abroad in italy (florence) for 4 months and i have NO IDEA where to even start with a cell phone abroad.

i was hoping you all can help me out and walk me through this process. i read several threads on here and i am getting more confused as i read.

i have a verizon wireless blackberry tour that is gsm capable. i want to use this abroad on a prepaid sim.

i want to send sms as well, and call my home number back in the united states. i heard i can pay 12 dollars a month for skype and call home for an unlimited amount.

where should i start and what services work best for me? i average around 50MB of blackberry data per month. im just looking to call my local friends in italy on their cell phones, receive and send sms, and call my house in the usa and thats pretty much it.

thank you so much in advance for making this process easier

Hi. You should be able to find most info quite easily on the site or in the forums. When you arrive, just pick up a cheap prepaid Italian SIM card. PrePaidGSM: Italy lists all of the available options. There is also plenty of information in the Europe subsection of the forum, as the same questions get asked a lot, especially about Italy.

As you would also like to use data on your device have a look at this thread:
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/euro...ata-italy.html

Finally, for calling back to the USA I really would not bother with the Skype option. You will be better served with a Betamax brand with inclusive "freedays". (e.g. VoipRaider). Usually for a 10USD topup, this entitles you to 3 months of free calling, and you still have the 10 USD to spend at the end of that. Besides being much cheaper than Skype, you are not restricted to making calls from your PC or VoIP enabled mobile as you can also chose to make free calls to the USA (or elsewhere) from your prepaid SIM at local rates via a local Italian access number.

If you buy a Wind prepaid card before February 7th 2010 and activate the Blackberry service on the same day (send an SMS to 4033 writing BLACK SI) you get unlimited BB surfing and e-mails for 3 months. On the 4th month you'll pay 12 euros.

amazing! thats exactly how long i will need the blackberry plan for!

is there page on the wind website i need to go to for this offer or just send the text when i get the sim?

also, should i get the sim card when i arrive in italy?

thanks so much for your replies :)

Yes, of course, you can get the simcard once you are here in Italy, just get a codice fiscale.
Here is the page on Wind site:
Wind - Privati - BlackBerry® Internet Service
BTW you just need to send the SMS to activate the option.

this is great. im studying abroad in florence too and iv been struggling with what i should do about my phone. i dont think i would last without bbm. unfortunately i have a verizon curve and it isnt gsm capable. im going the ebay route to get an unlocked blackberry that works on gsm unless anyone knows of a cheaper route. If I buy a wind simcard and the blackberry internet service using that offer, will i also have to buy a data plan? i pretty much want the same things as nycfly89 with an emphasis on bbm and email. thank you thank you thank you.

That option includes unlimited e-mail and surfing through BB, no need for anything else.

Effendi, Many thanks for the detailed information you provide on BlackBerry in Italy, one last question regarding the Wind special offer, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) is a must, I will have an unlocked GSM EDGE/GPRS Curve with the Wind plan will I be able to use BBM? Please let me know.

I don't have a Blackberry so I don't know what's the BBM. But I suppose it's an application for messaging through internet, so it should work with no problem

BBM BlackBerry Messenger
 

BBM is BlackBerry to BlackBerry only instant messaging I also hope it will work! Thanks!