Italian Sims Cards

[Giacomino]

Ciao -

In the past I bought a Vodafone Sims card when I was in Rome. The problem I had was that all the voice prompts were in Italian. I have done research and found some companies in the USA that sell TIM Sims cards. They said once your in Italy you can change the prompts from Italian to English.

How popular is TIM? I only have heard of Vodafone.

Has anyone bought a Vodafone Sims card lately? How much did you pay and were you able to change into English?

The TIM Sims card is $39.00 USD and you get free incoming calls.

Calls to other TIM mobile phones $0.14 USD

Fixed line calls Calls $0.35 USD

to other* mobile networks $0.35 USD

TEXT Messaging is the same as a phone call


Grazie,

Giacomino

[Motel75]

Yes, I found this a little odd, as most Vodafone companies offer English as an option. Fortunately, I can get by in Italian, so it's not a problem for me. The advantage of Vodafone is that you can top it up online every 11 months with any credit card to keep it working.

TIM (=Telecom Italia Mobile) is just as big as Vodafone in Italy, and has good coverage. Don't buy it in the US, those prices are excessive; you should be able to find a kiosk selling SIMs for ?10 or less without any hassle once you are in Italy.

Some stores, particularly official ones, might require you to provide a Code Fiscale (tax number). This being Italy, you can usually get around this, sometimes by making one up. Look at the Italy page for information about this.

BTW, all European mobile phones have "free incoming calls." The US is the odd one out here; most other countries have separate nationwide mobile numbers that cost somewhat more to call, rather than having the same locality-specific numbers as normal phones.

[AndreA]

Originally Posted by Giacomino

How popular is TIM?

Well, Tim was the 1st italian mobile network... it's extremly popular.

...then I think that you have to read this page: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/italy.html . You'll find a lot of news about Italy... and maybe you can buy a Wind simcard too directly from this site

[Effendi]

Originally Posted by Motel75

you should be able to find a kiosk selling SIMs for ?10 or less without any hassle once you are in Italy.

No, that's not true. You can buy TIM (or Vodafone or Wind) prepaid cards only in shops and you need registration, otherwise it doesn't work.

It's much better if you go to an official store ("Il telefonino" for TIM, "Vodafone One" for Voda and "MondoWind" for Wind). They can manage the registration much faster. You need the "codice fiscale", passport and an Italian address.

TIM prepaid card costs 20? including 10? of credit. Sometimes there are promotions and you can get it for ?10 (always including ?10 of credit).

SMS and voice call rates are listed on THIS SITE, in English, and they are correct, unlike some other unofficial sites.

About messages and prompts in English, I think it's possible to have them with Vodafone prepaid cards, surely they work with Wind and I think TIM as well.

[AndreA]

Originally Posted by Effendi

I think it's possible to have them with Vodafone prepaid cards, surely they work with Wind and I think TIM as well.

Yes, Vodafone has english language too. Only H3G is only in italian. Wind and Vodafone have italian+english while Tim offers german language too!

So in Bozen they can be happy... :P

[Motel75]

No, that's not true. You can buy TIM (or Vodafone or Wind) prepaid cards only in shops and you need registration, otherwise it doesn't work.

Interesting, I saw a couple of kiosk-type places in Napoli offering SIMs for low prices (however, I got mine in an official Vodafone shop). It's probably just as well I didn't try to buy one from them. :wacko:

[Effendi]

In Napoli you can see "anything and everything", but that doesn't mean it's legal...

All Italian prepaid cards need registration, and that can be done at official and franchising shops. There was the bad habit to sell cards to foreigners without registering them; now it's surely not possible with Wind and TIM anymore, I have no idea with Vodafone, but I suppose it's the same. So beware of "street sellers".

[Giacomino]

Thank you all for the insight.

[HazelGirl]

For the Codice Fiscale, Could I put the region of my country of birth or do I have to put EE anyway since I'm not Italian? I was born in Germania. Also, what does EE stand for?

[Effendi]

You have to put EE since you are not Italian. The "province" code is for Italians only, foreign people write EE. If you were born in Germany you have to write Germania. If you need any help with the codice fiscale drop me a line to info@prepaidgsm.net and I can check if it's correct.