# Mobile Phone SIM in Italy?



## Peasant (Aug 12, 2018)

I live in France, where it's easy to just pop into a mobile phone store and pick up a SIM, but evidently in Italy you need a tax number (codice fiscale) before you can get one.
I have a friend from the US that will be spending three weeks in Italy on her honeymoon and she would, of course, like to get a local SIM rather than pay AT&T some sort of exorbitant fee. Is there any way for a short term visitor to get an Italian SIM?
Thanks in advance.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

The three main phone companies all offer tourist packages similar to the Orange tourist offer. In Italy they range from €20 for a month up to €30.

Wind is cheapest the other two are at the higher end.

TIM doesn't include SMS IIRC but has more data. I think they all have calls to the US currently but check if that matters.


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## Troz (Jan 29, 2018)

Assuming that her phone is not locked by her US provider, she can just go into one of the main vendors and pick up a prepaid SIM. You can even buy them at the airport on the way in. If her phone is locked, she will of course have to try and get it unlocked before she leaves.

I'd recommend TIM (the former government monopoly) as having the best coverage in rural areas, but if your friend is mainly going to be in towns, then she may as well walk into the first outlet she sees out of TIM, Wind and Vodafone.

They will have various packages available so it's important to say what she will be using it for (calls, SMS, data) and which countries she will be calling. I once mistakenly bought a package that gave me lots of free minutes to countries I didn't need to call, and cost me quite a bit to call Australia. Some companies will make a big deal out of offering "free roaming" in the EU without mentioning that they are obliged to under EU regulations.


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