SAUDI ARABIA (SA)

Locale name

Saudi Arabia

ISO code
The International Organization for Standardization two character representation for the given locale.

SA

Region

Middle East & Africa

Mobile country code
A three digit code associated with the given locale and used in conjunction with a Mobile Network Code to uniquely identify mobile networks.

420

Dialing code
The dialing prefix used to establish a call or send an SMS from one locale to the given locale.

+966

Two-way SMS supported
Whether Twilio supports two-way SMS in the given locale.

No

Number portability available
Whether number portability is available in the given locale.

Yes

Twilio concatenated message support
Concatenation refers to the capability of splitting a message that is too long to be sent in one SMS into smaller pieces and then joining the pieces at the receiving end so that the receiver sees the message as one. 

Yes*
For certain sender ID types this may not be supported. Where messages are split and rejoined may vary based on character encoding.

Message length
How many characters can be sent given a particular message encoding before the message will be split into concatenated segments.

160 Characters

Twilio MMS support
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) provides a standards-based means to send pictures and video to mobile phones.

Converted to SMS with embedded URL

Sending SMS to landline numbers
How Twilio handles an SMS message destined for landline telephone number.

You cannot send SMS to a landline destination number: the Twilio REST API will throw a 400 response with error code 21614, the message will not appear in the logs, and the account will not be charged

Compliance considerations
Twilio strongly encourages customers to review proposed use cases with qualified legal counsel to make sure that they comply with all applicable laws. This table lists some general best practices.

Saudi Arabian networks have implemented strong filtering that blocks messages coming from Numeric Sender IDs, messages that contain objectionable content, and messages that contain URLs. Messages sent with identical content to a recent message will also be blocked. To avoid the possibility of messages to users in Saudi Arabia being blocked, be sure to pre-register your Alphanumeric Sender IDs. Promotional messages should only be sent between 09:00am and 08:00pm local time. Messages sent to mobile numbers registered in the DND list will be filtered.

Sending gambling, adult content, money/loan, political, religious, controlled substance, cannabis, and alcohol related content is strictly prohibited. Messages containing WhatsApp/LINE chat links, and phone number in body are not allowed.

Twilio is unable to register Sender IDs on behalf of domestic brands based in Saudi Arabia or Qatar because of a new regulation that prohibits the re-selling of domestic traffic. 

Twilio strongly encourages customers to review proposed use cases with qualified legal counsel to make sure that they comply with all applicable laws. The following are some general best practices:

1. Get opt-in consent from each end-user before sending any communication to them, particularly for marketing or other non-essential communications.
2. Only communicate during an end-user’s daytime hours unless it is urgent.
3. SMS campaigns should support HELP/STOP messages, and similar messages, in the end-user’s local language.
4. Do not contact end-users on do-not-call or do-not-disturb registries.

Operator network capability
Whether mobile operators in the given country support the feature.

Required

Supported

Not Supported

Twilio supported
Whether Twilio supports the feature for the given country.

Supported
Learn more

Not Supported

Supported

Sender ID preserved
In some countries sender IDs for certain sender types are not preserved and are changed for compliance and/or deliverability reasons. In these countries mobile subscribers will see a different ‘from sender ID’ than the one sent by you.

Yes

N/A

No

Provisioning time
Provisioning is the process of getting the sender ID approved and registered with mobile networks (depending on country requirements). Provisioning time is how long this process takes in the given country.

2 weeks

N/A

N/A

UCS-2 support

Supported

N/A

Use case restrictions

If you use Alphanumeric Sender IDs for promotional purposes such as advertising or marketing, you must affix -AD to the Sender ID. For example, Twilio-AD instead of just Twilio.

If you use an existing Alphanumeric Sender ID for transactional purposes, but choose to use it for promotional purposes too, then you have to register another Account SID and register a new Sender ID which will be dedicated to promotional traffic only. You must also affix -AD to the Sender ID: for example, Twilio-AD instead of just Twilio. 

Shortened URLs, adult content, and gambling or virtual gambling content is prohibited. Messages containing such content will be blocked, and the account may be blacklisted.

Twilio is unable to register Sender IDs on behalf of domestic brands in Saudi Arabia or Qatar due to a new regulation that prohibits the re-selling of domestic traffic. 

Sender ID Registration in Saudi Arabia is required. Submission of messages via an unregistered Alphanumeric Sender ID will be attempted on a best effort basis.

Best practices

URLs in the message content must first be allowlisted. Sending messages with URLs without adding them to an allowlist may result in delivery failure.

If the requested Sender ID is different to the name of or not affiliated with the company requesting the Sender ID, you must submit documentation that proves the company is allowed to use the Sender ID’s brand name. 

For example, Twilio owns the brand ‘Authy’. When Twilio submits a registration request for Authy, it needs to provide a document which proves that Twilio owns the rights to use the Authy brand name.

N/A

Twilio strongly recommends sending only with pre-registered Alphanumeric Sender IDs in Saudi Arabia.

Operator network capability
Whether mobile operators in the given country support the feature.

Not Supported

Not Supported

Not Supported

Twilio supported
Whether Twilio supports the feature for the given country.

Not Supported

Supported

Not Supported

Sender ID preserved
In some countries sender IDs for certain sender types are not preserved and are changed for compliance and/or deliverability reasons. In these countries mobile subscribers will see a different ‘from sender ID’ than the one sent by you.

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No

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Provisioning time
Provisioning is the process of getting the sender ID approved and registered with mobile networks (depending on country requirements). Provisioning time is how long this process takes in the given country.

N/A

N/A

N/A

UCS-2 support

N/A

Supported

N/A

Use case restrictions

N/A

Due to strict regulations in Saudi Arabia, we strongly recommend avoiding the use of Numeric Sender IDs. Delivery by Numeric Sender ID or any non pre-registered sender is not guaranteed and will be attempted on a best-effort basis only.

N/A

Best practices

N/A

Twilio strongly recommends sending only with pre-registered Alphanumeric Sender IDs in Saudi Arabia.

N/A