Prepaid GSM SIMs??

[Jpullen88]

First of all, later in June I will be taking a trip to Italy and maybe to the surrounding countries. I currently have an unlocked quad-band GSM phone (world phone?). I use Tmobile in the USA and as I looked it was about $1.50 per minute for international calls. I seemed to have found a multitude of companies/services that offer prepaid SIM cards that will get me phone service at a lesser fee. The only question I have is, which one is going to be the best for the money? I need to be able to call European numbers for a reasonable amount and make calls to the U.S. I saw onesimcard and telestial to name a few companies. They look great... I have no idea what I am looking for which is probably why they both look perfect. Lastly, I know there will be prepaid vendors in Europe. However, I am tending to think that I will be able to get a better deal by buying it ahead of time. Is this typically the case? Any direction/advice would be greatly appreciated. My trip is starting on the 22nd of June, so I gotta get this figured out soon.

Thanks a lot,
Jason

[dmapr]

My favorite resource on the subject is PrePaidGSM.net: International GSM Operators (global roaming), PrePaidGSM.net: National GSM Operators (by country) and you can also check out the forums there for more up to date info: PrePaidGSM.net Forum.

[Telekom]

First of all, later in June I will be taking a trip to Italy and maybe to the surrounding countries. I currently have an unlocked quad-band GSM phone (world phone?). I use Tmobile in the USA and as I looked it was about $1.50 per minute for international calls. I seemed to have found a multitude of companies/services that offer prepaid SIM cards that will get me phone service at a lesser fee. The only question I have is, which one is going to be the best for the money? I need to be able to call European numbers for a reasonable amount and make calls to the U.S. I saw onesimcard and telestial to name a few companies. They look great... I have no idea what I am looking for which is probably why they both look perfect. Lastly, I know there will be prepaid vendors in Europe. However, I am tending to think that I will be able to get a better deal by buying it ahead of time. Is this typically the case? Any direction/advice would be greatly appreciated. My trip is starting on the 22nd of June, so I gotta get this figured out soon.

Thanks a lot,
Jason

The only real reason to get a SIM through Telestial is if you absolutely have to know the number before you leave. Other than that Telestial charges almost three times as much for SIMs that you can get in Italy for €10. Odds are that landing at an Italian airport there may even be a shop in the airport where you can get a starter SIM pack. If you're only going to be in Italy it will be cheaper for you if you get a plain old Italy SIM card rather than an "international" card.

Go here for specific information about SIM cards for Italy.