Italy

[RhinoDoc]

I am leaving soon for Italy. I have read the post on the Motorola site about getting a Vodaphone sim card and using that, I have Tweakker installed on my phone, so I think I am ready to make it work. However, never having used a sim card before, I have a couple questions. Will that allow just local calls? Can I call the States? I assume that if I do it will use a lot of my credit. Can people call me? From the States? Would they call my usual number or does the sim card give me a different number? I am thinking I will be using it primarily for data (Google maps, email, etc.) but wondered about the phone part of it. Any advice?

 

[Citizen Coyote]

From my understanding, it will depend entirely on the SIM card. It should provide you with a separate phone number. Who you can call and how much it costs will be carrier-dependent, as will data usage. I would look into Vodaphone's options and see what might work best for you, and contact them regarding numbers, etc. I have not used a SIM in my Photon, so I have no first-hand knowledge.

 

[RhinoDoc]

Just to provide some followup in case anyone checks this post in the future. I went to Italy for 2 weeks. Upon arriving in Milan I went to Vodaphone and bought a SIM card for (I think) 15 euros. That included an activation fee and some time. I specifically asked for data access, in addition to phone. They told me to wait an hour before trying it, and I did. The phone part worked immediately. They provide you with the phone number of the SIM card - keep that handy, several times people asked me for my phone number and I couldn't come up with it if I didn't have it in my pocket. It is a new, unique number, not related to your US number. The data didn't work and I couldn't figure out why, until we got to Venice and the hotel had free WiFi. I connected the phone to WiFi, then used Tweakker to easily make the data connection work. Until I had WiFi, Tweakker could do nothing. I kept the data on continuously which update weather and any other widgets I had running (Flight Tracker, etc.). I used it a LOT to look up directions, nearby restaurant reviews, Wikipedia searches, translations, etc. My brother had an ATT iPhone with international roaming turned on. I frequently called and texted him when we apart, I called the US for about 20 minutes. So, for about 20 euros (I bought an additional 5 euros of time about 3/4 of the way through the trip) I got a lot of use out of it. To call/text my brother I had to use the US international code (001) and for him to call me he had to use the Italy code (039) but people in Italy could just dial the number given to me by Vodaphone. Bottom line, it was really easy, cheap and the only problem I had was that I had to have WiFi access to make the data work.