A traveler to Italy needs to be careful in choosing the cellular service to use, so as not to end up paying higher rates. In some cases, you as a traveler can stay connected at a fraction of what you may need to pay for conventional rented cell phones, or on roaming with your original country provider. As with a majority of countries in the world, Italy uses the GSM standard which offers quality digital services affording excellent phone reception and clear sound quality.

With the exception of GSM tri-band phones it will be difficult to use your current cell phone and you may have to make special arrangements with your current cellular carrier. They will provide you a handset with a SIM (Subscriber Information Module)chip inserted into the phone which contains such information as the cell phone number, voice mail and call logs. Getting set up in this manner with your current service provider will however, allow you to retain your original phone number and receive and make calls anywhere in the world. In this case, there is usually a monthly fee for being able to use the service internationally plus high roaming rates (call rates) and other applicable charges such as renting the handset and having it delivered to you.

Another alternative is to rent a cell phone. You can rent a cell phone for Italy at any international airport either prior to departing or upon arrival or through many other ways such as the yellow pages. Rates generally average $25-$50 per week for the handset rental plus per-minute charges for actually placing and receiving calls. There are usually minimum per day or per week usage rates, regardless of whether you have used the service or not.

The least expensive alternative is to use the same service that the Italians use: a local, Italian cellular solution. With this approach, you will be paying local rates which are inexpensive and furthermore, you can receive unlimited, free incoming calls from anywhere in the world, including the US or Canada. Calls are not routed through numerous foreign switches and therefore the possibility of dropped calls is close to nil. Furthermore, the calls are prepaid so you never receive a bill nor do you need to sign a contract or commit to lengthy periods of cellular service.

Calls to the US are cheap, costing only about $0.40 per minute, but whenever possible in order to save even further, you may ask people to call you back on your cellular number. Your incoming is free and you can afford to receive long calls. While the person calling you will be paying for an international call, rates to Italy can be very reasonable - especially if the person calling you chooses the right provider or uses a calling card.

In order to take advantage of paying local cellular rates you must ensure that your GSM cell phone is compatible with the Italian system at 900 GSM frequency, and is unlocked. GSM phones come from the manufacturer unlocked - it is the carrier that locks them in order to ensure that even if you do have an international cell phone from a US or Canadian retailer that works in Italy, it won't work with anything other than the carrier's SIM card.