Cheap ANCEL (Uruguay) phones are definitely NOT locked

ANCEL is a GSM 1800 network. I bought my Nokia 1600 series from ANCEL in Uruguay and was rather surprised when it accepted my T-mobile chip. But the proof is... does it work well away from home?

I.C.E. Costa Rica is also GSM 1800. BAM! the Nokia 16xx used my T-mo sim to get on the network in NO TIME.

I sort of expected this based on previous tests but... my 3rd-world Nokia 1600 works just the same as my HTC phone (worth 10 times the value as the 3rd-world Nokia!) here in Costa Rica with the smae T-mo SIM.

My HTC has to fail some "tests" before it looks for a GSM1800 signal. It eventually works but not super-fast. The Nokia 1600 is designed to be a a low cost no frills 3rd-world phone. It first looks on 900 then 1800 (neither of which work in the USA). It does it FAST.

The Nokia finds GSM1800 immediately. The HTC took.. well, 15 minutes. It took my T-mobile Wing from the time I took it out of the overhead compartment until sometime when I was going immigration to figure out where it was and whether it could roam. So... $400 phone - quite the delay. $40 phone - instant. :)