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Comprehensive SMS Guidelines for Colombia (CO)

Sending SMS in Colombia requires understanding key technical and regulatory aspects. Whether for marketing or transactional purposes, compliance and best practices are essential for successful message delivery. This guide provides detailed insights into SMS regulations and technical guidelines in Colombia.

Locale Overview

  • Country: Colombia
  • ISO Code: CO
  • Region: South America
  • Mobile Country Code (MCC): 732
  • Dialing Code: +57

Two-Way SMS Support

Colombia fully supports two-way SMS, facilitating seamless interaction between businesses and customers. This feature is crucial for customer service, feedback, and transactional messaging.

Number Portability

Colombian users can switch mobile service providers while keeping their phone numbers, thanks to number portability. This is vital for businesses to maintain consistent communication, regardless of the customer's mobile carrier.

Message Length & Concatenation

  • Maximum Message Length: 160 characters (ASCII encoding)
  • Concatenation: Messages exceeding the limit are split into segments and reassembled at the recipient's device. Note that concatenation may not be supported for all sender ID types.

MMS Support

Traditional Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is not supported in Colombia. Instead, multimedia content is sent as an SMS with an embedded URL, allowing recipients to view the content online.

Sending SMS to Landlines

SMS messages cannot be sent to landline numbers in Colombia. Attempting to do so will result in a 400 response with error code 21614, and the message will not be logged or charged.

Compliance Considerations

To comply with Colombian laws and best practices, businesses should:

  1. Obtain Opt-In Consent: Secure explicit consent from users before sending communications, especially for marketing.
  2. Respect Time Zones: Send messages during the recipient's local daytime hours, unless urgent.
  3. Support STOP/HELP Commands: Allow recipients to use HELP or STOP commands in their language to opt out or seek assistance.
  4. Avoid Do-Not-Disturb Registries: Do not send messages to users listed on do-not-call or do-not-disturb registries.

Conclusion

Understanding SMS guidelines in Colombia is essential for effective business communication. From two-way SMS support to compliance, following these best practices ensures successful message delivery and adherence to local regulations.

By meeting the outlined technical and legal requirements, businesses can optimize SMS campaigns and enhance customer engagement in Colombia.

For more information on telecommunications regulations, visit the Colombian Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications.