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 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. Coverage in Turin is good on all four.
In personWho: You
3
Prefer prepaid to a bundled handset contract
Postpaid plans commonly bundle a phone over 24 or 30 months and are awkward to exit. Ricaricabile prepaid with automatic top-up carries no lock-in.
Mobile appWho: You
4
Check FTTH by exact civic number
Coverage tools resolve to the specific address. Turin's coverage is broad but not uniform, particularly in the outer working districts and the hill. Run the check on the address you are about to sign for.
OnlineWho: You
5
Ask the amministratore about the riser
Bringing fibre into a flat means work in common parts owned by the condominio. In Turin's large nineteenth-century blocks this is usually straightforward but still needs the administrator's cooperation and a few weeks.
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 another reason it belongs at the very start of the move rather than in week three.

Source: AGCOM; Ministry of the Interior

Turin is easier to wire than Italy's medieval-centred cities, and that is worth money to a remote worker.

The city's housing stock is overwhelmingly nineteenth and twentieth century, laid out on a regular grid with generous risers, so fibre installation is more predictable than in Florence's or Venice's protected historic fabric. Combined with rents around half Milan's, that makes Turin one of the better value propositions in Italy for someone whose income depends on a connection. Still check the specific address — coverage is broad, not universal.

Source: AGCOM; community-reported

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

The regulated labels distinguish FTTH from FTTC, but shop-window shorthand does not, and FTTC over a long copper final 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 the connection matters to your income.

Source: AGCOM

Mobile data is a genuine primary connection in Turin, not just a fallback.

Coverage across the four networks in the city is strong and large or unlimited 5G bundles cost less here than in most of western Europe. For someone waiting weeks on a fixed line, or in a building where the condominium is slow, a mobile plan used as a hotspot is a workable long-term arrangement rather than a stopgap.

Source: community-reported