In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
We are Luddites too and use a "second-hand" mobile phone passed on from family members in UK who wanted to update their phone. We bought a simple contract with Vodafone in Italy, got a number and simply inserted the Italian Sim card inside the second-hand phone. We top up the phone by going to a tobacconist every so often and buying some more "phone time". You are living in Bologna so perhaps the Network provider does not matter much, but out here in rural Umbria Vodafone sometimes doesn't work and Tim does. Others reading this will be better equipped to provide detailed info. re best deals etc but they are constantly changing. It does seem a challenge to buy a basic mobile phone nowadays.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
One other thing to think about, is that most mobile phones in Italy are not locked to one service provider as they are in the UK. Therefore you can just change to another provider, pay as you go, in the UK, Italy, Thailand etc, whenever you need..
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Skype now do a mobile, much cheaper for all calls, heard they work very well, but make sure you have coverage at the house , town etc
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Some shops [For example the big supermarkets and electronics shop] sell multiple brands. This way you can compare without travelling all over.
FWIW the local Carefour has had a basic Nokia phone on sale for something like 40 Euros. Unlocked. Others I'm sure have similar deals.
On choosing a contract. Who do you call mostly? That will determine the best plan.
The plan I have charges the same rate for fixed,tim or other mobiles. Plus a special rate for my favorite number. That works for me because the people I call are all over. OTOH if you mostly call people on one provider then it's better to get a different deal which gives you a break for that provider. If that makes any sense.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Between my wife and I, we have had 6 mobile phones during the past 7 years here (yes, 7!). We have had contracts only with 2 of them - which really did turn out to be an expensive disater, thanks to the wonders of using Tre (3) as the provider.
All of the other phones - including our current phones - have been Pay As You Go and have worked very well for us. No contract at all and every phone that you buy here in Italy is, by law, sold "unlocked". the only problem we had with that was the LG phones from Tre, which only accepted the mini SIM - not the usual sized one.
The last phone I bought was for my wife and we bought it from MediaWorld as the price was cheaper than anywhere else at the time. My own current phone was bought from a WIND shop - but I use a TIM SIM in it. No problem at all.
I really don't see a reason to get a contract here, as the call costs are very similar on PAYG to contract prices - unless you are a heavy user (more than €100 per month) when it may (MAY) prove to work out cheaper with a contract. However, remember that the contract is for 2 years and is very hard to get out of before that time without spending a lot of money.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
May be contract is the wrong word but PAYG have plans. Not having a plan means paying the highest rates. Plans are I think ususally free when you first buy the phone but often cost something 5-10 Euros to change between. If you use the phone enough you'll save the change fee being on a better plan.
You can start with the basic service and change later but you'll pay the fee. If you know you have certain needs then you might be better off getting the right plan to begin with.
there are a plethora of tariffs, all structured quite differenty by the marketing people at each company, and therefore quite confusing to compare if you're new to it. Firstly, I assume that, in Bologna you are in a fairly urban area and will probably get a good signal on all networks? If you are on the rural outskirts (or in an ancient bit of the centro storico with the twin towers etc. potentially obstructing coverage) then I'd have a word with neighbours to find out which signals are strongest. You may only intend to use the mobile whilst out & about ... but I can assure you that once you have one, you'll want it to recieve calls at home too.
Once you've ruled out any networks that have poor coverage at you home, I'd suggest that you next pop into each contenders local shop, explain briefly the approximate usage you intend to make (i.e. say 1 hour per week of calls within Italy, 30 mins/month of calls from Italy to UK, and 3 weeks/year of international roaming within UK, with 30 mins/week of roaming calls made/recieved) and confirm that you're only interested in PAYG.
That way, you'll get a feel for which shop are most helpful (this alone may be the best determining factor if you aren't familiar with mobile telephony and may require a bit of post sales help) and they should also all be able to reccomend their own best tarrif for your usage. Then, compare this (now smaller & more manageable) subset against each other for cost/flexibility etc. and compare to any specific suggestions made here by other members.