Oman SMS Guide - sms-compliance -

Frequently Asked Questions

Use a registered alphanumeric sender ID and comply with TRA regulations. Pre-register your sender ID, obtain explicit consent from recipients, and adhere to messaging time restrictions (8 AM to 9 PM local time).
Oman has a well-developed mobile market with Omantel and Ooredoo as the dominant operators. SMS is key for business communication, especially for authentication and notifications, despite the popularity of OTT apps for personal use.
Two-way SMS is not supported by major providers in Oman. Businesses needing interactive messaging should explore alternative channels or one-way SMS with different response methods.
Send messages between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM local time (GMT+4), respecting prayer times, religious holidays, and Ramadan. Avoid sending during sleeping hours and limit messages to 3-4 per week per recipient.
All SMS campaigns must support STOP/??????????, UNSUBSCRIBE/??????????_????????????????, and HELP/???????????? commands in both English and Arabic. Responses must be processed within 24 hours.
No, sending SMS to landline numbers in Oman is not supported and will result in delivery failure with a 400 response error (code 21614). Your account will not be charged for these failed attempts.
Explicit consent is required. Best practices include collecting written or digital opt-in confirmation, maintaining detailed consent records (timestamp and source), providing clear information about message frequency and content, and implementing double opt-in for marketing campaigns. Store consent records for at least two years.
Standard SMS messages use GSM-7 encoding with 160 characters per segment. Unicode (UCS-2) messages are limited to 70 characters per segment. Concatenated messages are supported for longer content.
Restricted content includes gambling, adult material, political messaging, unauthorized religious content, cryptocurrency promotions, and unapproved pharmaceuticals. Avoid URL shorteners, maintain consistent sending patterns, and clearly identify your business to prevent blocking.
Pre-registration is mandatory and typically takes 14-18 days for approval. Registered sender IDs are preserved, while unregistered IDs may be overwritten by carriers.
MMS messages are automatically converted to SMS with a URL link to the media. Use short URLs and clear message text for best results.
Process opt-out requests within 24 hours, send confirmation, and maintain a centralized opt-out database. Regularly audit for compliance and train staff on procedures. Honor opt-out requests even without a central DND registry.
Several APIs offer reliable SMS sending to Oman, including Twilio, Sinch, MessageBird, and Plivo. Each provides different features, authentication methods, and rate limits. Review their documentation for specific implementation details and best practices.
Rate limits vary by provider, with Twilio at 100/second, Sinch at 250/second, MessageBird at 60/second, and Plivo at 200/second. Use queuing systems, batch APIs, and exponential backoff for high-volume sending.
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