MobileConnect Guide for Sending SMS Messages to Russia

General Guidelines and Deliverability

Russia is the fourth largest smartphone market in the world.

Supported Codes

Note

The provisioning times listed in this table are estimates based on historical trends. The mobile carriers don't provide firm lead times, so the actual time required to obtain your phone numbers can differ from these estimates. Holidays, increased demand, and carrier network freeze periods (which vary by country and carrier) can cause delays.

SMS Code Provisioning Guidelines

The Russian mobile carriers only support sending messages using preregistered alphanumeric sender IDs. Alphanumeric sender IDs only support one-way messaging. Numeric codes (long codes and short codes) aren’t supported.

If you send a message using a sender ID that isn’t registered, messages to MTS and MegaFon deliver your message with a generic alpha code.

Senders who are based in Russia must provide this information when registering sender IDs:

• The alphanumeric sender ID that you want to register. Sender IDs are case-sensitive and can’t include spaces.
• The name of your company, brand, or organization.
• The URL of the website for your company, brand, or organization.
• Your Major State Registration Number (ОГРН), if you have one.
• Your VAT or tax number (ИНН).
• The approximate number of messages that you plan to send each month.

Senders who are based outside of Russia must provide this information when registering sender IDs:

• The alphanumeric sender ID that you want to register. Sender IDs are case-sensitive and can’t include spaces.
• A description of the types of messages that you plan to send.
• Samples of the message templates that you plan to use.
• The name of your company, brand, or organization.
• The URL of the website for your company, brand, or organization.
• Your Major State Registration Number (ОГРН), if you have one.
• Your VAT or tax number (ИНН).
• The approximate number of messages that you plan to send each month.

Delivery and Sender ID Rules and Best Practices

Cyrillic characters aren’t part of the GSM character set. As a result of this SMS limitation, SMS messages that contain any Cyrillic characters can only contain 70 characters per message part.

These requirements apply to marketing messages:

• You can only send marketing messages to recipients who have explicitly consented to receive marketing SMS messages from you.
• You must explicitly convey the terms of the marketing campaign to the user before they opt in.
• You must include cost-free options to opt out, such as a URL or toll-free support number.
• You can only send marketing messages between 8 AM and 10 PM in the local time zone of the recipient.

These requirements apply to transactional messages:

• You must have a current business relationship with the recipient to send transactional messages.
• A current business relationship doesn’t authorize you to send marketing messages. You must have separate and explicit consent to send marketing messages.
• While it isn’t required, it’s a good idea to include a customer support phone number or URL in each message.

Restricted Content

Messages that contain or imply this content aren’t allowed:

• Gambling or betting.
• Adult content.

If you attempt to send restricted content from your alphanumeric sender ID, the message fails. If you continue to attempt to send restricted content, the carriers can block all messages that are sent using that sender ID.

Best Practice and Compliance References

• Federal Agency for Press and Mass Media
• Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation