They didn't track the phone in this case either. They recorded the cell sites the SIM card was connected to when the device performed an action which would attract a charge. Extremely different things. Specifically, it is the lat/long/antenna of the cell site which is recorded, not the device. The device can actually be several km away, or even using a different SIM.
Carriers can mark a phone as "stolen". Once you do that, then that _device_ (separate from the SIM) will be barred from the network, along with a tonne of other international networks. However, they still don't track the device.
They can track it, but only at the request of the police, and it will typically require radiolocation using several different base stations. Sometimes they use A-GPS on the phone. However, they will only do this at the request of the police, and typically only for a 911 call.