Internet and Cellphone Service
Monday, May 6th, 2019
Okay, this seems like a prosaic thing to write about but I’ve decided to write a little bit more about actually living in Italy. One significant difference that I’ve been aware of since I began coming here in 2011 is that the cellphone service is significantly cheaper and now astoundingly better. Since I have my own apartment here I don’t have the benefit of internet service at the house that is usually available. Before I came I asked my friend Monica to make some prearrangements for me with an internet provide, Fastweb. After arriving I went to their office to finalize things and within a few days I had the ADSL modem in hand and a Fastweb guy came to do any necessary installation and then I had that service. Since Fastweb also has cellphone service and offers an attractive service that combines the ADSL and cellphone I chose them for my cellphone.
So here is my plan:
Internet service (amazingly fast) and cellphone service. The cellphone service includes:
- 20 MB of internet – ha, compare that to the offers in the U.S.
- 1000 minutes of calls – also compare that to the U.S.
- 100 SMS messages.
Now for the speed part. At my house I used the Google Speed tests and you can see the results below.
I don’t have a photo of the same speed test that I ran on my phone where I had a good signal but it was ….20 Mbps. Also blazingly fast for internet access through the cellular network.
So how much does this extraordinary service for the internet at the house and cellular service cost? $40 a month. Compare that to what you are paying in the U.S. for far inferior service. It does make you wonder why the service in the U.S. is so expensive. In both Italy and the U.S. the providers are private so one can only conclude the consumers in the U.S. are being raped.
