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Costa Rica SMS Best Practices, Compliance, and Features
Costa Rica SMS Market Overview
Locale name:
Costa Rica
ISO code:
CR
Region
North America
Mobile country code (MCC)
712
Dialing Code
+506
Market Conditions: Costa Rica has a mature mobile market with high smartphone penetration and widespread SMS usage. The country's mobile landscape is dominated by major operators including Kolbi (ICE), Movistar, and Claro. While OTT messaging apps like WhatsApp are popular for personal communication, SMS remains crucial for business messaging, particularly for notifications, authentication, and marketing communications due to its reliability and universal reach.
Key SMS Features and Capabilities in Costa Rica
Costa Rica supports basic SMS functionality with some limitations on advanced features like concatenation and two-way messaging.
Two-way SMS Support
Two-way SMS is not supported in Costa Rica through most major SMS providers. This means businesses should design their SMS strategies around one-way communication flows.
Concatenated Messages (Segmented SMS)
Support: Concatenated SMS is not supported by operators in Costa Rica. Message length rules: Messages longer than standard SMS length will be split into individual messages without guaranteed ordering. Encoding considerations: Standard GSM-7 encoding is recommended for optimal delivery. Using UCS-2 for special characters will reduce the available characters per message.
MMS Support
MMS messages are not directly supported in Costa Rica. When attempting to send MMS, the message will be automatically converted to SMS with an embedded URL link where recipients can view the media content. This ensures message delivery while providing access to multimedia content through web links.
Recipient Phone Number Compatibility
Number Portability
Number portability is not available in Costa Rica. This means mobile numbers remain tied to their original carriers, which can simplify routing but limits consumer flexibility.
Sending SMS to Landlines
Sending SMS to landline numbers is not possible in Costa Rica. Attempts to send messages to landline numbers will result in delivery failures, typically generating a 400 response error (error code 21614) through SMS APIs, and no charges will be incurred for these failed attempts.
Compliance and Regulatory Guidelines for SMS in Costa Rica
Costa Rica's telecommunications sector is regulated by SUTEL (Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones), which oversees SMS communications and marketing activities. While specific SMS marketing regulations are less stringent than in some countries, businesses must adhere to general consumer protection laws and telecommunications guidelines.
Consent and Opt-In
Explicit Consent Requirements:
Obtain clear, documented opt-in consent before sending marketing messages
Maintain detailed records of when and how consent was obtained
Include your business name and purpose in initial opt-in messages
Provide clear terms and conditions regarding message frequency and content
Best Practices for Consent Collection:
Use double opt-in processes for marketing lists
Store consent records with timestamps and opt-in source
Regularly clean and update subscriber lists
Document opt-in language and methods used
HELP/STOP and Other Commands
All SMS campaigns must support standard opt-out keywords:
"STOP" (primary)
"CANCELAR" (Spanish equivalent)
"NO" (alternative)
HELP/AYUDA messages should provide:
Company identification
Contact information
Brief service description
Support both Spanish and English commands for optimal user experience
Do Not Call / Do Not Disturb Registries
Costa Rica does not maintain a centralized Do Not Call registry. However, businesses should:
Maintain their own opt-out databases
Honor opt-out requests within 24 hours
Keep suppression lists updated across all campaigns
Implement proper opt-out tracking systems
Time Zone Sensitivity
Costa Rica observes Central Standard Time (CST) year-round. Best practices include:
Send messages between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM CST
Avoid sending during national holidays
Consider business hours for B2B messages
Reserve after-hours messaging for urgent notifications only
Phone Numbers Options and SMS Sender Types for Costa Rica
Alphanumeric Sender ID
Operator network capability: Supported Registration requirements: Pre-registration not required Sender ID preservation: Sender IDs may be overwritten by carriers for security purposes
Long Codes
Domestic vs. International:
Domestic long codes not supported
International long codes supported but may be overwritten
Sender ID preservation: No, international numbers are typically replaced with local formats
Provisioning time: Immediate for international numbers
Use cases:
Transactional messages
Customer support
Account notifications
Short Codes
Support: Available through major carriers
Provisioning time: 8-12 weeks typical approval timeline
Use cases:
High-volume marketing campaigns
Two-factor authentication
Emergency alerts
Customer service
Restricted SMS Content, Industries, and Use Cases
Restricted Industries:
Gambling and betting services
Adult content
Unauthorized pharmaceutical sales
Political campaigns without proper authorization
Regulated Industries:
Financial services require additional disclaimers
Healthcare messages must maintain patient privacy
Insurance services need clear terms and conditions
Content Filtering
Known Carrier Filters:
URLs from unknown domains
Multiple exclamation marks
ALL CAPS messages
Excessive special characters
Best Practices to Avoid Filtering:
Use registered URL shorteners
Maintain consistent sender IDs
Avoid spam trigger words
Keep message formatting simple
Best Practices for Sending SMS in Costa Rica
Messaging Strategy
Keep messages under 160 characters when possible
Include clear calls-to-action
Use personalization thoughtfully
Maintain consistent branding
Sending Frequency and Timing
Limit to 2-4 messages per week per recipient
Respect local holidays and cultural events
Schedule around peak business hours
Space out bulk campaigns
Localization
Primary language: Spanish
Consider bilingual messages for tourist areas
Use local date/time formats
Respect cultural nuances
Opt-Out Management
Process opt-outs immediately
Maintain centralized opt-out database
Confirm opt-out with one final message
Regular database cleaning
Testing and Monitoring
Test across all major carriers (Kolbi, Movistar, Claro)
Monitor delivery rates by carrier
Track engagement metrics
Regular A/B testing of message content
SMS API integrations for Costa Rica
Twilio
Twilio provides a robust SMS API with comprehensive support for Costa Rica. Integration requires an account SID and auth token for authentication.
import{ Twilio }from'twilio';// Initialize client with environment variablesconst client =newTwilio( process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID, process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN);// Function to send SMS to Costa RicaasyncfunctionsendSMSToCostaRica( to:string, message:string):Promise<void>{try{// Format number to Costa Rica format (+506)const formattedNumber = to.startsWith('+506')? to :`+506${to}`;const response =await client.messages.create({ body: message, to: formattedNumber, from: process.env.TWILIO_PHONE_NUMBER,// Optional statusCallback URL for delivery updates statusCallback:'https://your-callback-url.com/status'});console.log(`Message sent successfully! SID: ${response.sid}`);}catch(error){console.error('Error sending message:', error);throw error;}}
Sinch
Sinch offers a straightforward API for sending SMS to Costa Rica, with support for delivery reporting and batch sending.