Get Started

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.

+971 XXX XXX XXXcountry code (United Arab Emirates)national subscriber numberE.164 caps the whole string at 15 digits - the example digits are placeholders(national number length varies by market); only the +971 prefix is United Arab Emirates-specific
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 IDpre registration (per UAE TRA / telecom operator sender ID registration requirement, retrieved 2026-07-26)
Registration regimeGCC-prereg
Dominant language(s)Arabic/English
Native-text charsetUCS-2 — 70 characters per single SMS, 67 per concatenated segment (GSM 03.38 default alphabet vs script analysis, retrieved 2026-07-27)
Published smsroute rateUSD 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.

UCS-2 (70 chars single, 67 concatenated)1 segment = 70 chars2 segments = 134 chars3 segments = 201 chars
Cost per message at the published rate (0.052 USD, 2026-07-27)1 segment = $0.0522 segments = $0.1043 segments = $0.156Multipart messages are commonly billed per segment - the segment ruler above shows where each boundary falls.

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).

Every figure above is maintained by SMSRoute guides with a named source and retrieval date - the machine-readable copy for United Arab Emirates lives in api/v2/countries.json (CC-BY), field-level provenance included.

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.
How do I test SMS delivery to the United Arab Emirates without a local SIM?
Delivery-testing services send to real local numbers in the United Arab Emirates; SMSRoute accounts include free test credits that prove delivery.
Can I use my company name as sender in the United Arab Emirates?
Alphanumeric sender IDs such as a company name must be registered with local operators before use (GCC-prereg); unregistered senders are commonly blocked.

Related

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.