Information iPhone with Italian sim card questions

[susan]

I stopped recharging my old sim card with TIM and so I need to purchase a new sim card when I arrive in Italy. I plan to purchase one, once I arrive in Udine (my 1st stop). I am hoping someone will speak English at the TIM store there but will try to brush up on my Italian phone and data vocab before I get there. I am trusting that Verizon is telling me that my iPhone 6s is unlocked and I won't have any problems.

In the past, I only had a sim card that took care of calls and texts as I had a cheap travel phone that could not access the internet. This time, I plan to get a data plan as well. Does any one have a recommendation on the type of plan for just 3 weeks (or 1 month)?

I also have a question about the SMS setting in the message app on my iPhone. I have it turned off since I text for free through messages with my friend in Italy using email addresses. I have never had a problem sending or receiving texts with this option, but now wonder if all along I have been using data instead of my unlimited text plan for my texts. In Italy, if I am texting friends there using Italian phone numbers, will I be using my text part of the plan or part of the data plan? AND will it be a problem to text others, especially if they do not have an iPhone if I have the SMS off?

 

[Amy]

(From Larry)
All Verizon iPhones are unlocked for GSM (used in Europe) as part of a deal Verizon made with the FCC to buy some radio spectrum some years back.

I got a prepaid sim for 20 euros with 2G of data but only 1 euro for calls and SMS. You can get a 30 euro sim with some calling and SMS as well as data. If you plan to text to other Italian phones you will need some SMS allowance. You also may want to get a larger data allowance depending on how much web and email things you do with your phone. As I noted in another post we have used way more data than I expected.

If you have been using an email for texting then you have been using data and not SMS units. If you want to text other Italian phones you will have to turn on SMS messages.

Hope this helps
Larry

 

[susan]

Thanks, Amy (and Larry)!

Glad to be reassured that my Verizon phone will work. I only text through email to my friend in Italy. All other texts are phone number to phone number but I do have SMS turned off. I wonder if I have been using data all this time. It doesn't really matter since I never go over my limit, using wifi mostly at home for my data usage. I wonder if this is why I sometimes have difficulty sending/receiving texts to friends who do not have an apple product.

I did a little more research today regarding TIM plans and have read quite a few complaints about the spam texts as well as texts trying to switch your plan that they send you. It was so much easier when I just had a dumb phone and a tiny rechargeable prepaid plan in the past. From what I read, if you don't respond appropriately, you can get locked out of your plan or you are switched to a much more expensive plan. Also the spam texts somehow use a lot of data or charge a large fee for a text cost and sometimes browsing on the internet will register you for adult services that you are charged for without your consent. I do remember getting lots of texts with offers from TIM when I used to use to have a prepaid card but I just ignored them. Perhaps even back in 2011, I was being charged a usage cost that I was not aware of.

For Vodafone, I have read that they also will try to switch your plan but they are not as annoying (the amount of texts) and they also renew your plan and charge you so you need to keep a watch on the internet. I have not read about the spam texts but I have read that it is sometimes more difficult to get a plan set up and you need to keep checking your plan after leaving Italy as they may switch it and charge you.

Of course some of this info on both TIM and Vodafone may be people writing this information to sway you to a different company?

I just found this website that seems to break down all options. I guess I should have figured this all out much sooner. Good thing I am mostly packed while I try to decide which plan will work best.

Has anyone experienced difficulties with either TIM or Vodafone?

 

[susan]

Update... I just chatted with my friend in Italy. She said TIM is now not a great service and even she has changed to Vodafone. She is going to call the Vodafone store I will visit on Monday and ask all my questions and try to find me the best plan. I think I am good now, but if anyone has any Vodafone comments that might be helpful, I would love the advice.

 

[Sandrac]

Hi Susan!
I have been away from the forums for too long! Nice to read that you're planning a visit to Italy -- hope your trip planning is going well.

I just wanted to say that I've had by mobile service with TIM for more than 5 years now (Vodafone for wireless at home). And while TIM is far from perfect and they do send a lot of junk texts that I simply delete, the service is overall okay. I don't sign up for any special plans (the one time I did that, things did go very wrong) but for a basic 5 euros per week I have unlimited texts, adequate Internet time and talk time.

Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Sandra

 

[susan]

Hi Sandra!

I'm pretty much planned (at least as planned as I can be for a last minute trip). This sim card thing is all that I need to get settled at this point. Thanks so much for the info on TIM. It's good to hear experiences from others. Since you have both TIM and Vodafone for internet use (wireless at home vs phone), do you find any big difference with your internet speed between the two?

Great to hear from you! Hope all is well!
susan

 

[Sandrac]

Susan, it is hard to compare since my phone is not that great and I've only had Vodafone for a couple of weeks at home (switched from Wind). But, I have heard great things about Vodafone.

 

[Tony da Roma]

I have vodafone. My contract is 15 euros a month. I get 1,000 minutes a month to any number in Italy. 300 minutes a month to the USA and many other countries. Unlimited texts to vodafone users. Texts to other carriers in Italy are .15 a pop and abroad are .50 a pop. And I also get 2 GB of data.

 

[susan]

Thanks, Sandra and Tony da Roma! Good to hear positive feedback on Vodafone.

 

[jan]

We got TIM SIMs for a few years and last year went with Vodafone (It was the first store we saw upon arrival in Lecce)
We both felt like we had more "issues" with Vodafone than we had with TIM but some of it may have been lack of understanding the plan we got. FWIW, we just had to add a few bucks occasionally for calling but barely used any data even though we used the mapping functions quite a bit. I kinda think you would be fine with either one. Many people told us to avoid Wind though.

 

[susan]

Thanks, Jan!