Before you start

Codice fiscale
Passport or ID, plus permesso di soggiorno for non-EU nationals
An unlocked or eSIM-capable handset
An address, and some knowledge of the building for a fixed line

Step-by-step

1
Buy the SIM in a shop with your documents
Operators must record an identity document and codice fiscale against every SIM. Bring the passport and the tax code — a photograph of either is often refused. The line works the same day.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
2
Use a low-cost operator
Iliad and the incumbents' second brands — Ho. Mobile, Kena, Very Mobile — run on the same networks for a fraction of the price with no minimum term.
In personWho: You
3
Check the roaming zones before your first ferry
Greece and Croatia are inside the EU roam-like-at-home rules. Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia are not, and a default out-of-bundle data rate there can produce a memorable bill. Buy a local eSIM or a specific add-on before you sail.
Mobile appWho: You
4
Check FTTH by exact civic number
Coverage tools resolve to a specific address. The Murat grid is well served; Bari Vecchia's lanes are far less predictable building by building. Run the check before you sign.
OnlineWho: You
5
Establish who holds the fixed-line contract
In subdivided and shared flats the internet contract is often in a previous tenant's or the landlord's name. If you work from home, find out at the viewing rather than after the move.
OnlineWho: You
6
Keep your number when you switch
Portability is a legal right and takes a few days using the SIM serial and your codice fiscale. Never cancel the old plan first.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Codice fiscale
Passport or ID card
Permesso di soggiorno or receipt
Proof of address, for fixed lines

Things most newcomers don’t know

There is no anonymous SIM in Italy, so the tax code gates your phone number.

Every SIM, prepaid included, is registered against an identity document and an Italian codice fiscale under anti-terrorism rules. A newly arrived visitor cannot simply buy a working Italian number on landing. The tax code is free and same-day, which is one more reason it should be the first errand of the move.

Source: AGCOM; Ministry of the Interior

The EU roaming rules stop at the Adriatic, and Bari is the city where that is expensive.

Roam-like-at-home covers the EU and EEA, so Greece and Croatia are included in your Italian bundle. Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Serbia — all an overnight ferry away and all common weekend destinations from here — are not, and out-of-bundle data rates in non-EU Europe can be an order of magnitude higher. Some Italian operators sell a Balkans add-on; a local eSIM bought before you sail is usually cheaper still.

Source: AGCOM

'Fibra' in a shop window covers fibre to your door and fibre to a cabinet down the road.

The regulated labels distinguish FTTH from FTTC, but advertising shorthand does not, and FTTC over a long copper run delivers a fraction of the headline speed. Ask which of the two serves the address, in those words, and get the answer in writing if your income depends on the connection.

Source: AGCOM

The Murat grid is one of the easier southern Italian centres to get properly connected in.

Bari's nineteenth-century expansion is a regular grid of straight streets and consistent apartment blocks, which is exactly the geometry fibre rollouts like — unlike Genoa's caruggi, Palermo's mandamenti or Catania's lava-stone palazzi. If reliable home internet is a hard requirement, the Murat quarter and the districts behind it are a materially safer bet than the old town five minutes away.

Source: community-reported