[Bossman]

Since she is only going to be in one country, a local Italian sim will be the better option. UM gives you the advantage if you will be visiting several countries, so you can just have one number to roam with. As for the phone (or even the sim) check ebay. You can get very good unlocked phone for a very good price on eBay.

I am with sprintPCS myself, and we have 2 unlocked GSM phones (bought on Ebay) for international travel. BTW, I also have the UM sim just in case. As mentioned, this sim is good if your trip will take you to more than 1 country. I will get a chance to test mine in April when a will be on a cruise that docks in 4 countries.