Overview

Networks in Saudi Arabia have implemented very complex spam filters that in most cases block even legitimate application to person traffic. Therefore, cheap signaling or roaming links do not deliver well especially for high-value content such as password delivery or alerts, let alone marketing bulk traffic.

Sender ID

Vonage has partnered with suppliers that can pre-register against, and deliver SMS without problem. Ensure you are not using numeric or generic alpha Sender IDs and that you pre-register your alpha Sender ID and content with us.

To reduce spam, the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) require Sender ID and separately URL registration, to which all Saudi operators are obliged to comply.

Content

Promotional Content

For bulk message (ads and promotions, anything non-transactional) the Sender ID must include the suffix "-AD" or " AD". So promotional content has to be sent with "SID-AD" (length = 11 digits) format, for example, Nexmo-AD.

Promotional or marketing content is allowed only between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Saudi Arabia time (GMT+03:00).

Transactional Content

If you have transactional messages which are either user-generated or expected, you can register an alpha Sender ID to bypass the traffic filters and NDNC registry.

Adult Content

No adult content is allowed.

Political Content

No political content is allowed.

Religious Content

No religious content is allowed.

Unicode

Unicode is fully supported, other than the '£' (British pound sign), which is not accepted.

Concatenated Messages

Concatenated messages are not supported.

Other Features or Restrictions

Delivery Receipts

Handset delivery receipts are not supported.

Additional Information

For more information, see the following articles:

• Global SMS Features Overview (Outbound-Only)
• Global SMS Numbers Features Overview