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 real 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.
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
Make connectivity a viewing question in the historic centre
Ask whether the flat has FTTH to the door, FTTC, or neither, and ask the building administrator rather than the landlord. In protected buildings a new fibre run may need both condominium consent and heritage clearance, and the answer is sometimes simply no.
OnlineWho: You
5
Check FTTH by exact sestiere and civic number
Coverage tools resolve to the specific address, and in Venice adjacent buildings genuinely differ. The Venetian addressing system means you need the sestiere and number, not a street name.
OnlineWho: You
6
Budget for a large mobile plan as a real backup
In a centre where a fixed line can take a long time or prove impossible, a generous 5G bundle used as a hotspot is a reasonable primary or secondary connection, and cheap by western European standards.
Mobile appWho: 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, 'can I get fibre here?' is a question about heritage rules and a condominium, not about the network.

Venice's buildings are protected, dense, and share walls and stairwells; external cabling is constrained and works in common parts need the condominium's agreement, sometimes with heritage clearance on top. The result is that a fully served calle can contain a flat that cannot practically be connected. For a remote worker this is the single highest-stakes unknown in a Venetian rental, and it is answerable in one message to the amministratore before signing.

Source: AGCOM; community-reported

Damp is a connectivity problem as well as a comfort problem here.

Buildings sitting on wooden piles in a salt lagoon are permanently humid, and ground and mezzanine floors especially so. Damp degrades old copper runs, junction boxes and in-wall cabling, which is one reason two flats in the same building can have very different real-world line quality. If the flat is low and old, ask what the actual measured speed has been rather than what the plan promises.

Source: community-reported

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 or researcher cannot simply buy a working Italian number on the day of arrival. The tax code is free and same-day, which is another argument for making it the very first errand.

Source: AGCOM; Ministry of the Interior

Mestre and the mainland are ordinary in this respect, and that is a real point in their favour.

The terraferma has twentieth-century buildings, regular risers and no heritage constraints, so fibre installation behaves the way it does in any Italian city. For anyone whose income depends on a reliable connection, this is one of the strongest practical arguments for living on the mainland — and it is rarely weighed against the romance of the centre until after the lease is signed.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Signing a historic-centre lease without confirming the fibre position with the building administrator.
Turning up at a phone shop without the codice fiscale.
Checking coverage by campo or calle name rather than sestiere and civic number.
Taking a damp ground-floor flat and assuming the advertised line speed will be delivered.
Cancelling the old plan before requesting the number port.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.