For what I know, at the Wind store on Via del Corso, they speak decent english.

Rates at the end are all pretty close from one company to another, maybe TIM has a little better coverage, but you can notice the difference only in some country areas, cities have a very good coverage in general.

Unless you will be in Rome for a long time, it probably doesn't matter which prepaid plan you choose. It's true that there is a jumble of rates, but the plan vanilla plan should be sufficient.

If you will be making more than a call or two to the US, you might want to also get an international phone card to use in conjunction with the cell phone or from your hotel phone. Most of them come in 5 euros denominations; make sure you get one that is intended for North America or "the Americas". I used to use the Sisal Edicard Europa&USA card before I had a fast enough connection to support Skype. It's sold in tobacco shops (tabaccherie) that sell SuperEnaLotto tickets. There are other cards, however, and almost any tabaccheria will have some kind.

I lived in Italy 2006/07 and had a WIND SIM with no problems whatsoever. I travelled everywhere and the rates were great (check their site).

7 Euro per month got me 240 minutes "free" talk to any WIND mobiles and all fixed line phones in Italy.

Can't remember what I paid for the card but info is on their site. Good Luck!

bibimbob,

1. Thank you.

2. Thank you.

3. Thank you.

4. see two.

This was exactly what I was looking for.

Based on whataday's recommendation, I am going to start by going to a WIND store. We are in Rome and Italy for only 5 days, and don't plan on making very many calls.

bvlenci and luluperth,

Thank you too! (see point four above).

BTW, I read on the linked website above (I am going to try to get a WIND sim card) that I should tell them to activate the "Call Your Country Option". This will give me a better rate back to my home country. It is free to get this when you activate a new SIM, otherwise it is 7 Euros.

If the plans and rates are still the same, I can go with "Super Senza Scatto" and get .17 Euros/min in Italy and .30 Euros/min to the US.

Last thing I was trying to do was to get an address for a WIND store on Via del Corso but I don't see an English version (for a store locator) on the WIND website (wind.it). I'm hoping to find a WIND store on the north end. I guess I'll just walk down the street when I get there!

Again, thanks to everyone!

OK, I'm not completely helpless. :)

I stumbled through the WIND website looking for what looked like a "store locator" and found it. I then got the address VIA DEL CORSO 88. It's a few blocks down from Popolo at the cross street via vittoria. I did a google maps "street view" and found the WIND sign. Gotta love google maps street view!

If it costs 30 cents a minute to call the US, your initial 5 euros won't last long, unless you just make quick calls. If you get an international phone card to use with it, you will usually get a much lower rate. I used to pay 3 cents a minute using the phone card from my home phone. (That should be the same as the phone in your hotel room, unless they have a different provider than Telecom Italia.) It would cost more to use it with your cell phone, though.

hi bvlenci,

Thanks for the advice on calling the US. We hope to make NO calls home (we're on VACATION, 5 days), and only have the phone for emergency calls from the US (hope there's no of those either). We will be using the phone if we need to call places in Rome.