mobile phone south america

wilson49

My daughter is traverliing for 3 months in South America , I had a Nokia 1208 unlocked for her to use with her o2 sim card the mobile worked in Madred, it did not work when she reached Ecuador . She could buy local sim but I am worried that her mobile will not work as it not a Quad of Triband handset. I have time to post a mobile to her as she is in the Galapagos at the moment and will not be returning to Quito for 6 days. any help appreciated.

DVardysShadow

Better for her to buy a cheapy PAYG out there and you transfer funds, I would have thought. At least if she does that, she will have one which should work in the locality.

redux

You're right that it's an issue about frequency bands. Latin America quite often uses the same as the USA bands of 850 and 1900 MHz, though some countries have the others mixed in.

As suggested, getting a phone locally would be quicker simpler and cheaper, though some effort might be needed to buy it not locked, perhaps from a general phone shop rather than a network-tied one. Some countries disallow network locking, but I have no idea how that applies in those areas.

If you want to check networks and their frequency bands in use, though it's probably redundant once she's set up, see the GSMWorld website. It also has links to the network websites themselves, where you might look at tariffs, or PrepaidGSM also has details of some (click network logo to go to network site)