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 for fibre, some knowledge of the building

Step-by-step

1
Buy the SIM in person with your documents
Operators must record an identity document and codice fiscale against every SIM. Bring the passport and the tax code to the shop — a photograph of them is often refused. The line works the same day.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
2
Use a low-cost operator rather than a flagship plan
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. Coverage across Rome is good on all four networks.
In personWho: You
3
Prefer prepaid over a bundled handset contract
Postpaid plans in Italy commonly bundle a phone over 24 or 30 months and are painful to exit. Ricaricabile prepaid with automatic top-up is the local norm and carries no lock-in.
Mobile appWho: You
4
Check FTTH coverage by exact civic number
Operator coverage tools resolve to the specific address. In Rome one side of a street can be on full fibre while the other is not, particularly around the centre. Run the check on the address you are about to rent, including the internal number.
OnlineWho: You
5
Ask the building administrator, not just the landlord
Bringing fibre into a flat usually means work in common parts, which belong to the condominio. In the centro storico there may also be heritage constraints on external cabling. The amministratore knows what has already been approved; the landlord frequently does not.
OnlineWho: You
6
Keep your number when you switch
Number portability is a right and takes a few days using the SIM serial and your codice fiscale. Do not cancel the old plan first — the port request handles it.
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 codice fiscale gates your phone number.

Every SIM, prepaid included, must be registered against an identity document and an Italian tax code under anti-terrorism rules. A newly arrived visitor cannot simply buy a working Italian number at Fiumicino the way they could in much of Europe. The tax code is free and same-day, which is another argument for making it the first errand of the move rather than the fifth.

Source: AGCOM; Ministry of the Interior

In the centro storico, the obstacle to fibre is often the building, not the network.

Rome's historic core is dense with listed and constrained buildings where external cabling and works in common stairwells need both the condominium's agreement and, sometimes, heritage clearance. The street may be fully served while your flat is on copper. This is the single most common unpleasant surprise for remote workers who rent a beautiful central apartment sight-unseen — and it is answerable in one question to the amministratore before signing.

Source: community-reported

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

Italian labelling distinguishes FTTH from FTTC, but shop-window shorthand does not. FTTC over an old copper final run in a Roman building can deliver a fraction of the headline speed, and the contract is still sold as fibre. Ask which of the two the address is served by, in those terms, and get it in writing if your income depends on the answer.

Source: AGCOM

Mobile is a genuine substitute in Rome, not a stopgap.

Coverage across the four networks in the city is strong, and unlimited or very large 5G bundles cost less here than almost anywhere in western Europe. For someone waiting weeks on a fixed line, or living in a building where the riser is a lost cause, a mobile plan used as a hotspot is a workable primary connection — which is not true in most northern European capitals at the same price.

Source: community-reported