Phone number
You can do it the day your codice fiscale arrivesWithout an Italian number you cannot open a bank account, couriers cannot reach you and landlords cannot call you back. Prepaid — ricaricabile — is the simplest: €7–10 a month, with more data than you will get through.
Step by step
- 1
Choose an operator
The main second brands: Ho. Mobile (on Vodafone’s network), Iliad, Very Mobile (WindTre), Kena (TIM). All prepaid, nothing bundled, prices you can actually read. The big three — TIM, Vodafone, WindTre — have slightly better coverage and cost more.
On campus and underground, look at whose phone still has signal — the deep metro stations in Milan are the real test.
- 2
Activate it in the shop
Say “vorrei attivare una SIM ricaricabile”. They scan your passport and codice fiscale, you sign a contract, and the card goes in and is activated there and then. The number is a local Italian one (+39 3xx).
- 3
Set up auto-renewal
Link a card or your balance for rinnovo automatico so you never lose service by forgetting to top up. You can also top up — ricarica — with cash at a tabaccheria or a supermarket.
Where people get stuck
- !There is a cap on how many SIMs can be activated against one passport — do not sign one up for a friend.
- !Know the difference between ricaricabile (prepaid) and abbonamento (contract): the second usually needs a direct debit on an Italian bank account — the domiciliazione — which you cannot set up on day one.
- !Cancel the line or port the number before you leave Italy, or it keeps charging you.
- !Porting your number — portabilità — is free. Bring the old SIM’s codice di migrazione when you activate the new one.