Short answer
SMS costs more in some countries because the receiving operator charges to deliver commercial traffic, and each destination has its own operators, regulation and competition. Route type, traffic type, sender ID registration, volume tiers and currency also move the price. You are billed per segment, so a long or Unicode message costs a multiple of a short one.
What drives the price gap?
| Factor | Effect on price |
|---|---|
| Operator termination | The receiving operator charges to deliver A2P traffic; it sets the floor |
| Route type | Direct, indirect and grey routes differ in hops, delivery and risk |
| Traffic type | OTP, transactional and promotional can be routed and priced differently |
| Sender ID and registration | Often a separate one-off or recurring charge |
| Volume and commitment | The rate per message falls across tiers |
Why does message length change the cost?
Billing is per segment. A GSM-7 message holds 160 characters (153 per part when split); Unicode holds 70 (67 per part). One emoji can switch a message to Unicode and double the segments, and Arabic is Unicode by default.
What should you compare in a quote?
See indicative list prices excluding taxes on the SMS pricing pages; the final quote confirms the cost.
- What is billed: submitted, accepted or delivered messages.
- Route type per country, direct or indirect.
- Who files sender ID registration and whether fees are passed through at cost.
- Currency of the rate and of the invoice.
- Setup fees, minimums and quote validity.