{"id":4837,"date":"2014-02-17T11:47:38","date_gmt":"2014-02-17T19:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/?p=4837"},"modified":"2014-03-23T14:32:12","modified_gmt":"2014-03-23T21:32:12","slug":"local-sim-italy-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/2014\/02\/local-sim-italy-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Local SIM: Italy Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

no luck at the airport<\/h3>\n

i was hoping to buy a SIM card at the airport like someone mentioned on the Prepaid With Data wiki page<\/a> but couldn’t find a vendor. as far as i found, there was only an expensive third-party SIM kiosk and a tabaccheria that sold top-ups (no actual SIMs). (for what it’s worth, there is free wifi at the airport but you have to keep re-registering every 30 minutes.)<\/p>\n

around town<\/h3>\n

i saw a large TIM store at Termini station but didn’t have time to stop because i had to meet my Airbnb host and was running late, so i had to slog on without connectivity. (p.s., how much do i love this host<\/a>? she took me out to coffee and gave me some tips for seeing Rome. super nice and helpful.)<\/p>\n

my Airbnb is located in the Quadraro neighborhood<\/a> and there are three cell phone stores within walking distance of each other: a 3, a Wind, and a Vodafone. i went in that order.<\/p>\n

the 3 wanted an Italian form of ID; they would not accept my US passport. the Wind wanted \u20ac35 for a card and service — too rich for my blood. i went next door and luckily they were able to help me at the Vodafone.<\/p>\n

Vodafone<\/h3>\n

\"IMG_5090\"<\/a>my total cost came out to \u20ac25 (\u20ac10 for the card and \u20ac15 in top-ups). not too cheap, but i guess it could have been worse. they will make a copy of your passport and you need to sign two forms, but otherwise it was pretty straightforward. one of the two salespeople there spoke English. the only drawback was that i didn’t get a choice of plans (in retrospect i should have seen if there was anything cheaper). they do have the equipment necessary to take credit cards but asked if i could pay cash instead (fine with me).<\/p>\n

i asked what this plan included and he said it has 3 GB of data as well as talk and SMS allowances. i wasn’t sure how much of each until some text messages came rolling in after activation (=immediate).<\/p>\n

if i’m google translating correctly, it looks like the plan (Smart 200, which was sort of detailed on the Prepaid With Data wiki page<\/a>, but maybe that was without bonuses) includes 1 GB + 2 GB free of data, 500 minutes of voice, and 500 SMS — definitely much more than i’ll ever use during my week here.<\/p>\n

i didn’t have to do any configuration and while it supposedly includes 4G service, i’m only getting 3G on my Verizon-based iPhone 5S (though they did have nano-SIMs readily available, no cutting necessary). speeds seem decent so far.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5091\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"IMG_5092\"<\/a><\/p>\n

the last two here are new messages:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5093\"<\/a><\/p>\n

p.s. over at the Wind store…<\/p>\n

\n

Here is a cat on a leash in a cell phone store. Because Rome. pic.twitter.com\/FjrPDEU1Uo<\/a><\/p>\n

— Jonathan Khoo (@jonk) February 17, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n