Italy: Mobile Phone

Last August, I bought a mobile phone in Rome and used it successfullly
while traveling. The phone has sat idle since then. Later this month,
I'll be returning to Italy and I expect to use my phone. Is there
anything I need to do to re-activate phone service other than simply
turning on the phone and dialing?

While we're in Florence, are there any city codes I need to put in front
of a local phone number? Ditto for our time in several towns in Umbria.

Thanks.

Karen Selwyn

Karen Selwyn wrote in news:h8fpe.9737$%Z2.9275
@lakeread08:

Last August, I bought a mobile phone in Rome and used it successfullly
while traveling. The phone has sat idle since then. Later this month,
I'll be returning to Italy and I expect to use my phone. Is there
anything I need to do to re-activate phone service other than simply
turning on the phone and dialing?

While we're in Florence, are there any city codes I need to put in
front
of a local phone number? Ditto for our time in several towns in
Umbria.

Thanks.

Karen Selwyn



contact the carrier to see how long the number is valid without a fillup
(should be either 11 or 12 months with TIM WIND or Vodafone but with
luck you might get a response (I didn't from TIM so . . .)

--
Joseph Coulter
Cruises and Vacations
http://www.josephcoulter.com/

Normally you have 12 months to refill yr tel. card.
after that yr number expires
the area code in italy needs always a zero.
portable telephone numbers do not need that
"Karen Selwyn" ha scritto nel messaggio
news:h8fpe.9737$%Z2.9275@lakeread08...
Last August, I bought a mobile phone in Rome and used it successfullly
while traveling. The phone has sat idle since then. Later this month, I'll
be returning to Italy and I expect to use my phone. Is there anything I
need to do to re-activate phone service other than simply turning on the
phone and dialing?

While we're in Florence, are there any city codes I need to put in front
of a local phone number? Ditto for our time in several towns in Umbria.

Thanks.

Karen Selwyn

Karen Selwyn wrote:

While we're in Florence, are there any city codes I need to put in front
of a local phone number? Ditto for our time in several towns in Umbria.

All Florence numbers should begin with area code 055: the area code
should be always dialled, even when phoning locally, and always
including the zero, even when phoning from a place outside Italy. The
same with local area codes in Umbria.

This way, all Italian land telephone lines begin with 0, all cellular
numbers with 3, all info and emergency services with 1.


--
Luca Logi - Firenze - Italy e-mail:
Home page: http://www.angelfire.com/ar/archivarius
(musicologia pratica)

"Karen Selwyn" wrote in message
news:h8fpe.9737$%Z2.9275@lakeread08...
Last August, I bought a mobile phone in Rome and used it successfullly
while traveling. The phone has sat idle since then. Later this month,
I'll be returning to Italy and I expect to use my phone. Is there
anything I need to do to re-activate phone service other than simply
turning on the phone and dialing?

Check out the prepaidGSM website Italy page:
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/italy.html
You will see that all the Italian carriers have either 12+1 or 11+1
validity. Your phone should still work when you get there.

While we're in Florence, are there any city codes I need to put in front
of a local phone number? Ditto for our time in several towns in Umbria.

All Italian numbers can be dialed from your GSM phone as +39XXXXXXXX.. Where
the XXXX part is usually 0 followed by more numbers. In Italy the leading 0
is part of the number.

Thanks.

Karen Selwyn


--
Donald Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

Donald Newcomb wrote:

All Italian numbers can be dialed from your GSM phone as +39XXXXXXXX.. Where
the XXXX part is usually 0 followed by more numbers. In Italy the leading 0
is part of the number.

While the phone works dialing +39xxxxxxxx, while in Italy the +39 is not
necessary (no matter if the SIM is Italian or roaming). The leading 0 is
always necessary, anyway.

--
Luca Logi - Firenze - Italy e-mail:
Home page: http://www.angelfire.com/ar/archivarius
(musicologia pratica)

Donald Newcomb wrote:

Check out the prepaidGSM website Italy page:
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/italy.html
You will see that all the Italian carriers have either 12+1 or 11+1
validity. Your phone should still work when you get there.

Thanks for this link. Based on this information, my phone should work
without a problem. However, the information on the site raises some new
questions:


-- Based on the paperwork I received from Vodaphone when buying the
phone, I appear to have the "Autoricarica Chiama" Plan. (At any rate,
the words "Autoricarica Chiama" under the category "I Piani
Telefonici".) How would I decided whether or not to switch to the
Vodaphone People promotion on this web site?

-- Does anyone know of an English-language option for adding time to my
phone? (Last year, I was with two people who were fluent in Italian who
stepped in when my Italian was inadequate to the task of dealing with
phone prompts when I tried to add time to my phone? This year, we're
staying in apartments and won't have any such support system.)

Thanks!

Karen Selwyn

"Karen Selwyn" wrote in message
news:kkApe.10473$%Z2.9925@lakeread08...
-- Does anyone know of an English-language option for adding time to my
phone? (Last year, I was with two people who were fluent in Italian who
stepped in when my Italian was inadequate to the task of dealing with
phone prompts when I tried to add time to my phone? This year, we're
staying in apartments and won't have any such support system.)

1. If you spending that much time in Italy, perhaps you should learn a
little Italian. Look at it as a practical exercise.
2. I don't know about Vodafone, but I think Wind has a language selection
for the recharges. Maybe Wind does too.

--
Donald Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

Donald Newcomb wrote:

1. If you spending that much time in Italy, perhaps you should learn a
little Italian. Look at it as a practical exercise.

I know a little Italian. I speak well enough to communicate adequately
-- if ungrammatically -- in person. Of course, in person, I can use hand
gestures, ask someone to repeat themselves, check out my language book
when stumped, and, most important, take as much time as I need to say
something. When adding time to my phone, I'm responding to a recording
which allows a limited amount of time for an answer.

I wouldn't be staying in apartments and renting a car unless I felt my
Italian was up to the task, but last summer the job of responding to
phone promopts defeated me.


2. I don't know about Vodafone, but I think Wind has a language selection
for the recharges. Maybe Wind does too.

Trying to refill my phone last year, Vodafone did not appear to offer an
English-language option. Let me assure you I was listening for it! If
the recordings in the US are typical, the second statement is often in
Spanish and instructs the caller to press a specific button to switch
the messages from English. I was listening very intently for an
equivalent message. No luck. Perhaps things have changed in the year's time.

Karen Selwyn

Karen Selwyn wrote:

-- Does anyone know of an English-language option for adding time to my
phone? (Last year, I was with two people who were fluent in Italian who
stepped in when my Italian was inadequate to the task of dealing with
phone prompts when I tried to add time to my phone? This year, we're
staying in apartments and won't have any such support system.)

You should look for a "ricevitoria": usually it is a tobacconist that
has a computer link for bets on lotto and totocalcio. The system is also
linked with Vodaphone, so that they can recharge your phone from their
computer. If you find a ricevitoria where somebody speaks English, they
will recharge the phone for you.

The phone may be recharged online at 190.it - I do not see an English
version, but maybe you can understand enough written Italian (click on
"ricarica qui"). The phone may be recharged at most ATM machines - but I
do not know if it can be done in English.

--
Luca Logi - Firenze - Italy e-mail:
Home page: http://www.angelfire.com/ar/archivarius
(musicologia pratica)