United Arab Emirates: SMS delivery facts
SMS delivery to the United Arab Emirates (calling code +971) requires pre-registration of alphanumeric sender IDs under a GCC-prereg regime, as unregistered senders are commonly blocked. Arabic and English are primary languages; Arabic script forces UCS-2 encoding at 70 characters per single SMS.
| Country calling code | +971 (ITU-T E.164 assigned country codes, retrieved 2026-07-27) |
|---|---|
| E.164 format | +971 followed by the national subscriber number, no leading trunk zero, 15 digits maximum overall (ITU-T E.164) |
| Alphanumeric sender ID | pre registration (per UAE TRA / telecom operator sender ID registration requirement, retrieved 2026-07-26) |
| Registration regime | GCC-prereg |
| Dominant language(s) | Arabic/English |
| Native-text charset | UCS-2 — 70 characters per single SMS, 67 per concatenated segment (GSM 03.38 default alphabet vs script analysis, retrieved 2026-07-27) |
| Published smsroute rate | USD 0.052 per message, dated snapshot (source, retrieved 2026-07-27). Current rate and send path: rate card for United Arab Emirates |
Sender-ID rules
Alphanumeric sender IDs must be registered with local operators before use; unregistered senders are commonly blocked. (per UAE TRA / telecom operator sender ID registration requirement, verified 2026-07-26)
Alphanumeric sender IDs must be registered with local operators before use under the GCC-prereg regime; unregistered senders are commonly blocked. Arabic script forces UCS-2, yielding 70 characters per single SMS and 67 per segment when concatenated. Primary languages are Arabic and English.
Character set and message length
Native Arabic/English text is classed as UCS-2 here: 70 characters fit a single SMS and 67 per segment once a message is concatenated.
Arabic script forces UCS-2 — 70 chars per single SMS.
To count segments for a concrete message, use the UDH segment surgeon; to compare all 40 countries side by side, the country requirements explorer reads the same open dataset (CC-BY 4.0).
Frequently asked
- What is the calling code and published SMS rate for the United Arab Emirates?
- The calling code is +971. The published rate is 0.052 USD (retrieved 2026-07-27).
- Are alphanumeric sender IDs allowed for SMS to the UAE?
- Alphanumeric sender IDs require pre-registration under the GCC-prereg regime. They must be registered with local operators before use; unregistered senders are commonly blocked.
- What charset and segment lengths apply to SMS in the United Arab Emirates?
- UCS-2 applies because Arabic script forces it, giving 70 characters per single SMS and 67 characters per concatenated segment.
Related
- United Kingdom: SMS delivery facts
- United States: SMS delivery facts
- Vietnam: SMS delivery facts
- Sender ID (glossary)
- GSM-7 (glossary) · UCS-2 (glossary)
- All 40 country fact sheets
Facts on this page are dated snapshots with named sources; rates change — the linked rate card is authoritative. Corrections: ops@smsroute.cc. Last verified 2026-07-27.