Italian Howto's/FAQs
Calling someone on the phone
Time difference
First things first: Italy is 9 hours ahead of Portland. Example 9am here is is 6pm in Italy. Rule of thumb: call anytime during the day before 9am if you are trying to reach a business, before 1pm if you don't want to wake them up in the middle of the night.
Understanding numbers
Numbers are usually listed with the area code in parenthesis ex: (02) 5465235 or in the international format ex: +39-02-6554652. If you are calling from the States you will dial 011 to call internationally, 39 for Italy, the area code with the 0 and then the number example: 011-39-02-6554652. If you are calling a mobile phone the you will omit the 0 example: 011-39-340-54545454. Unlike stateside mobiles have special area codes: all numbers between 332 and 389.
Sending a text message to a mobile phone
Great news: it's free. Most mobile phones in Italy are able to receive short text messages. Free SMS from Enel, smsXte.com.
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For suggestions, corrections etc mail us at howto@scasso.com - - Back to Front Page
last updated:
Thu Sep 09 10:00:54 PDT 2004
