Italy

General Info
There are four network providers operating in Italy: TIM, Vodafone, Wind and 3 (Tre).

2G up to EDGE is on 900 and 1800 Mhz, 3G UMTS on 2100 Mhz. LTE or 4G is on 1800 Mhz on TIM and Vodafone, 800 and 2600 Mhz on Wind and 1800 and 2600 on 3 and is available to prepaid costumers for a surcharge mainly in the cites: TIM 4G coverage Vodafone 4G coverage To purchase a prepaid (= ricaricabile) SIM card a photo ID (e.g. a passport) is necessary in Italy. You can get them in the shops of the providers where they will be registered as well. Topups can be bought at many more places like tobacconists, supermarkets, newsagents or even bars and coffeeshops.

Good updated info:

http://www.donaldstrachan.com/2013/05/3g-data-plans-for-taking-your-smartphone-to-italy/

TIM
TIM owned by Telecom Italia is still the biggest operator in the country. They have the best coverage: all of the country is covered by 2G, most of it by 3G but 4G/LTE is only available in some cites (see above). The prepaid SIM card costs 10 EUR with 5 EUR credit.

Data packages:
Beyond the included volume, speed will be reduced to 32 Kbps,
 * Internet: 1GB per month, 5€, up to 14.4 Mbps
 * Internet Start, 2 GB per month, 10 €, up to 14.4 Mbps
 * Internet Large: 5 GB per manth, 20 €, up to 14.4 Mbps
 * Internet 42.2: 10 GB per Month, 25 €, up to 42.2 Mbps
 * Internet 4G: 15 GB per Month, 35 €, 3G and 4G  up to 70 Mbps
 * 4G Addon for the 3G packs: 5 €

Since end of 2013 all the internet options with TIM can only be activated and deactivated online or by phone. Here is a good how to do in english: Instructions

3 (= tre)
3/Tre is Italy's smallest network. So coverage is very limited in the countryside but can be very good in the cities. They have national free roaming on TIM network for calls and texts, but not for data.

Their prepaid tariff without addons is called "Power10".

Default data rate is 2.03 cent per MB.

Online or by phone you can buy the only data add on called "Super Internet 3GB" giving you 3 GB high speed data per month up to 42.2 Mbps on 3G for 5 EUR.

But there is a big catch: a 100 MB per day limit. If you use more than 100 MB in one calender day, the default data rate will be charged extra.

This can be added by the 4G add on for speeds up to 100 Mbps for another 1 EUR per month. Have in mind that 3's 4G network is only active in Milan and Rome right now.

Availability
Purchase from a 3 Mobile store for €8 which includes €5 credit. It's renewed automatically after 30 days unless you disable the auto-renew. Going to more official stores you will have to provide some documentation about yourself and a local address in order to buy a SIM card.

SIM sizes
Mini SIMs as standard. Micro SIMs may be available on request, (mini SIMs are able to be cut down to micro SIM size).

Tethering
Despite not contractually allowed, tethering functioned without any special plan, and without any notification stating otherwise.

APN
tre.it

Default data rate
Up to 43.2 mbps in 3G, up to 100 mbps in 4G (coverage see above)

Data feature packs
Tethering not allowed on all plans. Tethering will cost 5€ per day.

Availability

 * Vodafone Store

SIM sizes

 * mini-SIM (2FF) available.

Internet settings

 * APN: web.omnitel.it

Wind
Wind has terminated all time based offers, but has a big variety of volume based packages. It sells a lot of rates including domestic calls, texts and internet.

Default rate
The default rate for all prepaid cards of wind is the daily rate of 3 €. You get max. 500 MB at high speed, then throttled to 32 kbps on one calendar day (0.00-23:59).

Data feature packs

 * Mega Unlimited: 30 days, 10 GB, 20 €
 * Internet Big: 30 days, 3 GB, 15 €


 * Internet No Stop: 30 days, 1 GB, 9 €

To subscribe text UNLIMITED SI, INTERNET BIG SI or NO STOP SI to 4033. When the limit is reached the speed will be limited to something like ISDN Speed. The option can then be renewed for the above price for a new 30 day period by texting RINNOVA SI to 4033, or gets reduced to 32 kbps. It is automaticly renewed after the 30 day period unless disabled (dont forget this) by texting changing SI to NO to 4033.

The SIM card activation costs 5€ in WIND shops. Top up cards can be purchased in tabacchi stores to the values of 5, 10, 15, etc. So if you have a card from a previous stay, best go for the 15€ recharge (5+9, or more if you want a more expensive option).

Get status/balance

Send SMS to 4155

Technical specifications

 * APN: internet.wind
 * Tethering is allowed
 * VoIP is  officially not allowed, but not blocked.