Prepaid SIM Italy

[AndreA]

Originally Posted by maccoy

The only best choice is Wind (starting from 9 cents to 15 cents).

Don't forget that you can use a "Dialoga International" with Wind

Cheaper international calls

As you can see on the tariff pages, the international tariffs for calling your home-country from an Italian mobile are rather high, everywhere you live! But there is quite a good solution from Wind. Buy a Wind prepaid card at just 10 euros (with 5 euros of preloaded airtime, and there are often promotions on new activations too), then find a Wind "Dialoga International" prepaid international card. Those cards are not sold at Wind official shops (quite weird, isn't it?), but at newstands (Edicole) and tobacco shops (Tabacchi), but it's not easy to find. You could have more chances at airports and bigger train stations. Once you find them, you can choose between € 5.- and € 10.- value of airtime. For dialing from a Wind mobile phone just dial the toll free number: 800 905 500, enter your code and you are ready to go. Tariffs depend on the country and there are usually higher tariffs for calling a mobile phone (mostly in European countries); there is a complete list, in Italian, here. You can use the Dialoga International card also from landline numbers, public phones and mobile phones of different operators, but the prices are higher, as you can see on the table.
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/italy.html

So I think that Wind can be the best solution for jlbaer1

SMS starting from 9 ct. (Wind 9) and calls to US @ 12.5 ct. (Dialoga International)

[jlbaer1]

Yeah I think I may go with TIM but I am leaning toward buying it here in the US and paying a bit more so she has it when she lands and doesn't have to hassle with finding a store that sells TIM and getting Euro to pay for it unless you know of a store at Malpensa airport that sells TIM or WIND.

[maccoy]

Originally Posted by jlbaer1

Yeah I think I may go with TIM but I am leaning toward buying it here in the US and paying a bit more so she has it when she lands and doesn't have to hassle with finding a store that sells TIM and getting Euro to pay for it unless you know of a store at Malpensa airport that sells TIM or WIND.

The only mobile phone shop at Malpensa Airport is a Vodafone one, but it's in the boarding area.

[Motel75]

Originally Posted by jlbaer1

Yeah I think I may go with TIM but I am leaning toward buying it here in the US and paying a bit more so she has it when she lands and doesn't have to hassle with finding a store that sells TIM and getting Euro to pay for it unless you know of a store at Malpensa airport that sells TIM or WIND.

We do have these amazing new things in Europe called "credit cards". (Though I would advise her to have some euros in her pocket before she arrives.) You are better off buying in Italy -- just figure out what you codice fiscale is ahead of time. Again, have a look at http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/italy.html

Any problems with sending or receiving SMS from Europe to the US rest with the US operators, who were very late in adding SMS and making it a viable inter-network option. However, I could have sworn my Italian one worked fine sending to the US. (IMO it can be a problem with too many people stateside who don't know how to respond to a text message. As you will soon discover, this is not an issue in Italy...)

[jlbaer1]

LOL. Yeah, I figured she could potentially buy it with a credit card. The first two words she spoke as a baby were "charge it" but I was more worried about her finding a store to buy the right card in right at the airport. Now I just enabled international calling on her cell so in an emergency she can use that til she picks up a TIM or similar Italian sim card. I think I have all bases covered. Thanks for all your advice people!

[jlbaer1]

Where might she find a place to buy the WIND or TIM card. She arrives at Malpensa and then is taking a train to her study abroad center.

[jlbaer1]

I love the Rolling Stones. Honestly, I think I am going to let her know what I found out from all you guys and girls and let her figure it out what to buy when she gets there. Mommy isn't going to be around to help her for the next four months. It's time that she figure out a few things on her own. If she goes prepaid, though, my credit card bill won't get racked up. Yay to that!

[Motel75]

Hey, the Stones' "Streets of Love" was in a Vodafone Italia commercial when it came out. Hope this helps.