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 fixed lines

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 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 — use the same networks for a fraction of the price with no minimum term. Coverage in Florence is good on all four.
In personWho: You
3
Choose prepaid over a bundled handset contract
Italian postpaid plans often bundle a phone over 24 or 30 months and are painful to exit. Ricaricabile prepaid with automatic top-up carries no lock-in and is the local default.
Mobile appWho: You
4
Check FTTH by exact civic number, not by street
Coverage tools resolve to the specific address. In the centre one palazzo can be served while its neighbour is not. Run the check against the address you are about to sign for, including the internal number.
OnlineWho: You
5
Ask the amministratore about the building, not the landlord
Bringing fibre in usually means work in common parts owned by the condominio, and in the centre there may be heritage constraints on external cabling. The building administrator knows what has already been approved; landlords frequently do not.
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

In the historic centre, whether you can get fibre is a question about the building, not the network.

Florence's core is a UNESCO world heritage site where façades and often interiors are protected, and running a new fibre drop up a listed stairwell needs both the condominium's agreement and, sometimes, heritage clearance. The street can be fully served while your flat sits on copper. Remote workers who rent a beautiful central apartment from photographs discover this in week three — and it is answerable in one message to the amministratore beforehand.

Source: community-reported

'Fibra' in an Italian advert covers fibre to your door and fibre to a cabinet down the road.

The regulated labels distinguish FTTH from FTTC but the shop-window shorthand does not, and an FTTC line over a long copper final run in a fifteenth-century building delivers a fraction of the headline speed. Ask which of the two serves the address, in those terms, and get the answer in writing if your income depends on it.

Source: AGCOM

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 student cannot simply buy a working Italian number on arrival. The tax code is free and same-day — another reason it belongs on day one, especially in September when the Florence offices are at their busiest.

Source: AGCOM; Ministry of the Interior

Mobile data is a genuine primary connection here, not a stopgap.

Coverage across all four networks in Florence is strong, and large or unlimited 5G bundles cost less than in most of western Europe. For someone waiting weeks on a fixed line, or living in a centro storico building where the riser is a lost cause, a mobile plan used as a hotspot is a workable long-term answer rather than a bodge.

Source: community-reported