French and Italian PAYG SIMs for Data

totbean

I am travelling to Italy by car through France with my wife and kids who have 2 phones and a laptop with which they get unlimited Internet access in the UK as part of their contract. Last year we crossed France and stayed in Italy without Internet access at all. It was a proper pain. The only relief was a Cybercafe. It's not that convenient. Does anyone know whether we could buy French and Italian PAYG sims in advance and if so what are the best ones for data. Not bothered about calls - we won't make any from the FR or ITA phones.

Thanks very much

NFH

The two best sites for this with a wealth of information are:

http://prepaidwithdata.wikia.com/wiki/France
http://prepaidwithdata.wikia.com/wiki/Italy

and

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/france.php
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/italy.php

The first site is more detailed than the second, particularly concerning data, but you'll find that the second site is very up to date for Italy, given that the guy who runs it is Italian.

Intasun32

Since the introduction of new anti terrorism a few years ago all payg sims must be registered but to register you have to have the Italian version of a National Insurance number. The same laws apply if you want to open a Bank account.

There are web sites that will generate a number for you but in the larger stores these fake numbers now flag up and you will be in trouble. At one time, as a tourist, you even had to show you passport or photo car licence to use an internet cafe. In some towns it is still the norm.

It was once easy to buy Italian sims on ebay but not anymore. In Spain all you need is an address in Spain, your hotel for example, and your passport to register. I think that we are one of the few countries where you can buy a sim card and use it without proof of ID.

:beer: