How to apply for and activate Ilaid SIM

Iliad's launch offer has attracted several Italian users, so here's how to apply for and activate a SIM from the new mobile phone company

The arrival of Iliad in Italy with a really low-cost offer for minutes, SMS and 30 gigs of Internet has aroused the interest of many people. However, not everyone is yet clear on how to request and activate a SIM card from the French mobile operator.

Requesting and activating a new Iliad SIM card is a fairly simple process. To register with Iliad there are basically three different ways: through the website of the French company, through a physical store and finally using one of the many simboxes scattered throughout the Italian territory. The simboxes are nothing more than ATMs where we can enter our main data to receive in return a SIM Iliad ready for activation. Before seeing how to specifically request the SIM should be remembered that the cost of the same is 9.99 euros to which must be added the 5.99 euros of the first month of activation.

How to request SIM Iliad

The most immediate method to request a new SIM Iliad or make portability of your number is to connect to the site of the French phone company and follow the guided procedure. The first step is to answer the question: do you want to keep your number? We click on "Yes" to do portability, or click on "No" if we want to activate a new Iliad line. For the portability we will have to enter the phone number, the type of contract, the operator and the serial number of the old SIM. Then we should enter our personal data and choose the method of payment (charge to credit card or monthly manual recharge). At this point we must authenticate ourselves: we can do it online, through the webcam of the computer, or handing over copies of identity documents to the courier when he will deliver us the new SIM. Once we have made this choice we pay the activation fee via prepaid or credit card and wait for the arrival of the Iliad SIM at home. The shipment usually takes two working days.

If we are not very familiar with online purchases we can turn to the already mentioned Simbox (the list of those in our territory is available on the site of the same Iliad): the procedure is, in broad terms, the same as the web portal, with recognition via webcam.

Finally, we can go to one of the six physical stores that the company has activated throughout the country. Two are located in Rome, one respectively in Venice, Catania, Milan and Turin.

How to activate the Iliad SIM

Once we receive the Iliad SIM at home, we just have to activate the card. So we insert the SIM in our phone (at home we will receive the card in the various models, normal, micro, nano, so you can insert it in any phone or smartphone). The PIN set by default is 1234: the advice is to change it after the first power on. After entering the PIN, we use the Wi-Fi at home to access the Iliad website and access the personal area using the credentials received via email at the time of the SIM request.

Once inside, to activate Iliad card we click on "Activate SIM", enter the serial code of our card (located at the bottom right in the support of the SIM just received at home) and wait a few moments: if there were no problems, we will see the message "SIM activated". At this point we just have to wait for the SIM to become operational: this is a process that usually takes up to two hours, but it could take up to 24-48 hours.

Usually, the configuration for Internet access is done automatically,

but if this is not the case, it is advisable to install the Iliad Mobile Config app for automatic configuration.

In case of portability, the activation and number change procedure could take a few more working days. In the meantime, however, we could use the Iliad SIM (with a different number from ours, though) and thus take advantage of the rates of the French low-cost mobile operator.