You can find public telephones in most public places, such as bars or restaurants, and also on the streets throughtout all the city.

It is recommended to purchase a phone card (carta telefonica) because all the new public telephones only accept these cards. You can buy the carta telefonica in bars and tobacco stores (tabacchi) that display the sticker "Carta Telefonica". The cost of this card is 5,10 or 15 thousand lira. You can use the card multiple times until it runs out of value for local or international calls.

The cheapest time to call internationally is on the weekends or during the week from 8:00 pm to 8:00 am. To call internationally, you must dial 00 then the country code followed by the area code and the local phone number desired.
All numbers in Italy now retain the ) in the area code

To call collect with an Italian operator you should dial 15 for European countries or 170 for all other countries.

If you want to make your call through your US long distance carrier you should dial:

1011 for AT&T
1022 for MCI
1897 for Sprint

Useful Phone numbers

Emergencies - Tel. 113
Fire brigade - Tel. 115
Ambulance - Tel. 5510
Car breakdown assistance ACI - Tel. 116
National telephone directory - Tel. 12
European telephone directory - Tel. 176
All other countries telephone directory - Tel. 1790
Correct time - Tel. 161
Telegrams - Tel.186
Early call service - Tel.114
Road conditions - Tel. 4212