A2P SMS, OTP, and sender ID rules in Egypt.
BroadNet delivers A2P SMS and OTP in Egypt over direct connections to Vodafone Egypt, Orange Egypt, e& Egypt, and WE, with NTRA sender ID registration in 7-14 business days. Licensed termination via NTRA-approved aggregator. Direct binds with Vodafone Egypt, Orange Egypt, e& Egypt, and WE — Arabic and Latin sender IDs both supported.
From-rates by channel in Egypt
- SMSfrom$0.0280per SMSIndicative list rate, reviewed September 24, 2026Volume pricing available
- OTPRequest a quote Channel list rate from $0.0120 per verification (all markets)
- WhatsAppRequest a quote Channel list rate from $0.0135 per template message (all markets)
- RCSRequest a quote Channel list rate from $0.0080 per session (all markets)
- VoiceRequest a quote Channel list rate from $0.0150 per minute (all markets)
Indicative list prices in USD, excluding taxes and sender-ID registration fees. Final per-operator pricing is confirmed in your quote.
The Egypt A2P market at a glance.
Egypt is North Africa's largest mobile market — 106M subscriptions across four licensed MNOs (Vodafone Egypt, Orange Egypt, e& Egypt, WE / Telecom Egypt). NTRA regulates A2P messaging on a licensed-only basis: foreign senders must terminate via an NTRA-licensed local aggregator, every alphanumeric sender ID requires NTRA + operator approval, and grey-route traffic carries fines up to EGP 5,000,000 per case. Arabic and Latin scripts are first-class on every operator. Restricted categories (gambling, pharma, crypto) are blocked at the operator firewall. The Egyptian Data Protection Law (151/2020) governs PII.
Technical facts for Egypt
Network codes, message lengths and sender-ID rules in one table. Segment lengths are the GSM standard values (3GPP TS 23.038).
| Mobile country code (MCC) | 602 |
|---|---|
| Dialling code | +20 |
| Operators (MCC-MNC) |
|
| SMS length, GSM-7 (Latin alphabet) | 160 characters in a single SMS; 153 per part when concatenated |
| SMS length, UCS-2 (Arabic, Cyrillic and other scripts) | 70 characters in a single SMS; 67 per part when concatenated |
| Regulator | NTRA (National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority) |
| Sender-ID rules | Every alphanumeric ID requires NTRA + operator approval. Latin or Arabic; one ID per use-case per entity. Foreign senders must terminate via an NTRA-licensed local aggregator. |
| Sender-ID lead time | 7-14 business days |
Channels live in Egypt.
One contract, one contact model. Fall back between SMS, WhatsApp, and Voice with shared opt-in evidence and a single audit trail.
SMS
Operator-direct A2P to all four MNOs. UCS-2 Arabic at parity with GSM-7.
OTP
Sub-4-second median; two-shot OTP supported with DLR confirmation.
WhatsApp Business API live; high consumer penetration in retail and fintech.
RCS
RCS Business Messaging in early rollout on Vodafone Egypt and Orange Egypt.
Voice
Voice OTP and TTS available with Arabic-native voices; recommended fallback in rural delta regions.
How do I register a sender ID in Egypt?
Filed end-to-end by BroadNet's compliance team — KYC pack, operator approval, and renewal cycles handled on your behalf.
NTRA · Vodafone, Orange, e&, WE
- Format
- Alphanumeric (Latin or Arabic), up to 11 chars
- Pre-registration
- Required — NTRA + operator approval; one ID per use case per entity
- KYC documents
- Egyptian commercial registration, tax card, authorisation letter, sample templates (EN + AR), traffic-type declaration, NTRA-licensed aggregator binding
- Renewal cycle
- Annual
- Common rejection causes
- Foreign senders attempting direct bind without an NTRA-licensed aggregator, restricted-category templates (gambling, pharma, crypto), brand mismatch with the trade licence, or templates that blend promo and transactional intent.
What OTP delivery looks like in Egypt.
Latency profile, peak-hour behaviour, recommended fallback chain, and the fraud signals our firewall watches in-market.
Typical latency window
Median 3.4s with p95 inside 9s across the four MNOs. Two-shot OTP delivery confirmed via DLR.
Peak-hour behaviour
Cairo and Alexandria peaks (19:00–22:00 EET) drive throughput but operator firewalls hold; BroadNet load-shapes per-MNO to smooth campaign sends.
Fallback chain
Recommended chain: SMS (primary) → WhatsApp Business OTP after 30s no-DLR → Voice OTP after 60s. Arabic-template fallback registered alongside Latin.
Fraud signals we watch
Grey-route arbitrage from foreign aggregators is the dominant signal — NTRA actively monitors and fines. Watch for SIM-swap attempts on banking-onboarding flows and for off-template marketing drifting under a transactional sender ID.
What you can — and can't — send.
Opt-in, opt-out, quiet hours, content restrictions, and the penalty regime for the Egypt market.
Opt-in
Verifiable opt-in required under DPL 151/2020. Consent source, timestamp, IP, and channel logged and retained for the life of the relationship.
Opt-out
STOP / إيقاف honoured network-wide. One-step opt-out, irreversible until re-consent.
Quiet hours
We have not found a regulator-published time-of-day window for promotional SMS in this market. Agree sending hours with the operator and schedule promotional sends for the recipient's local daytime; transactional traffic runs 24/7.
Content restrictions
Gambling, pharma, and crypto categories blocked at the operator firewall. Arabic templates strongly preferred for consumer-facing marketing. Restricted political-messaging windows apply around elections.
Regulator penalties
NTRA fines for grey-route or unsolicited traffic up to EGP 5,000,000 per case. DPL 151/2020 adds data-protection penalties on top for the underlying PII handling. Repeat offenders risk aggregator-licence suspension.
Termination,
network by network.
The route status column shows how each operator is reached — a direct BroadNet bind or a labelled partner route. No grey-route exposure. Route grades are indicative planning guides, not live measurements.
| Operator | MCC-MNC | Route status | Grade | A2P rate (typ.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vodafone Egypt | 602-02 | Direct | A+ | USD 0.03 |
| Orange Egypt | 602-01 | Direct | A | USD 0.032 |
| e& Egypt | 602-03 | Direct | A | USD 0.028 |
| WE (Telecom Egypt) | 602-04 | Direct | A | USD 0.035 |
Rates shown are typical pay-as-you-go for transactional traffic. Promotional traffic is priced separately, and volume tiers reduce both. See the rate-card section below for the full ladder.
| Tier | Transactional | Promotional | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go | USD 0.0280 | USD 0.0353 | List rate up to 100K messages/month |
| Growth · 100K+ | USD 0.0246 | USD 0.0311 | Auto-tier discount |
| Volume · 1M+ | USD 0.0207 | USD 0.0261 | Includes quarterly route review |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Direct operator pricing + signed SLA |
NTRA sender ID registration: 7-14 business days. BroadNet files the paperwork; you keep the ID.
Open the Egypt rate cardCompliant
by default.
Every send is pre-screened against National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) rules, the operator firewalls, and the local privacy framework. Where registration is required, BroadNet files the paperwork on your behalf.
Egyptian Data Protection Law 151/2020 applies — consent, lawful basis, data subject rights, cross-border restrictions. Gambling, pharma, and crypto blocked at operator firewall. Grey routes carry penalties up to EGP 5,000,000.
Full regulatory deep-diveNTRA-licensed routes only
A2P traffic must terminate via NTRA-licensed local aggregators. Grey routes carry penalties up to EGP 5,000,000 per case.
Sender ID approval
Every alphanumeric ID requires NTRA + operator approval. Latin or Arabic; one ID per use-case per entity.
Arabic-native handling
UCS-2 routes are first-class — Arabic templates render with no transliteration penalty across all four operators.
Restricted content classes
Gambling, pharma, and crypto categories are blocked at the operator firewall. BroadNet's classifier pre-flags before send.
Data Protection Law 151/2020
Egyptian DPL applies. Consent, lawful basis, data subject rights, and cross-border transfer restrictions enforced.
Programmes that work well in Egypt.
Where the BroadNet operator-direct footprint, the local regulator regime, and consumer messaging habits line up.
- 01
Fintech and digital-wallet OTP and KYC-step notifications (Fawry, InstaPay-style flows).
- 02
E-commerce delivery tracking and post-purchase engagement during the Cairo / Alexandria retail peak.
- 03
Government and ministerial citizen-services alerts (e-tax, e-Mobile-ID flows).
- 04
Tourism and travel itinerary changes, check-in reminders — heavy seasonal volume on Red Sea / Luxor corridors.
- 05
Healthcare appointment reminders and pharmacy-prescription pickup, aligned with MoH PII rules.
What we run for Egypt senders.
The operator relationships, the compliance workflow, the routing position — all on a single contract and a single account team.
NTRA-licensed local aggregator binding — foreign senders bind through BroadNet's Egypt entity with no grey-route exposure.
Sender-ID registration with NTRA + all four MNOs handled in 7–14 business days end-to-end.
Arabic-template review by an in-house compliance team — required for several regulated categories.
Operator-firewall pre-classification on restricted categories (gambling, pharma, crypto) to avoid hard blocks.
DPL 151/2020-aligned data plane with PII residency and breach-notification workflow built in.
USD billing with EGP and AED also available; automatic volume tiers from 100K messages a month.
Buyer questions about Egypt.
The questions BroadNet's sales engineers field every week from teams shipping into this market.
Can a foreign sender bind directly to Vodafone Egypt or Orange Egypt?
No — NTRA requires that all A2P SMS terminate via an NTRA-licensed local aggregator. Foreign senders bind through BroadNet's Egypt entity; grey-route traffic carries fines up to EGP 5,000,000 per case.
How long does NTRA sender-ID approval take?
7–14 business days once the paperwork is in. BroadNet files with NTRA and all four MNOs in parallel. Renewals are annual and handled automatically.
Are gambling or pharma templates supported in Egypt?
No — gambling, unlicensed pharma, and crypto categories are blocked at the operator firewall. BroadNet's classifier pre-flags borderline templates during onboarding to avoid hard blocks at send time.
Do I need an Arabic version of my templates for Egypt?
Strongly recommended for consumer-facing traffic. Arabic UCS-2 routes carry the same SLA and price as GSM-7, and engagement is materially higher on an Arabic OTP or marketing message. BroadNet's compliance team reviews both Latin and Arabic templates.
How does DPL 151/2020 affect my recipient data?
The Egyptian Data Protection Law applies — consent capture, lawful basis, data subject rights, breach notification, and cross-border transfer restrictions all apply. BroadNet's data plane is DPL-aligned and recipient PII handling is documented end-to-end.
Is WhatsApp Business API live in Egypt?
Yes — BroadNet is an official Meta Business Solution Provider (BSP), and WhatsApp is live with high consumer penetration in retail and fintech. OTP, utility, and authentication templates are supported alongside marketing on the same contract and opt-in evidence.
What's the fallback if an OTP doesn't deliver?
Recommended chain: SMS first, WhatsApp Business OTP after 30s without DLR, Voice OTP after 60s. Voice fallback is particularly valuable in rural delta regions where SMS retry rates run higher.
A ready-to-adapt template for Egypt.
In the local script alongside English. Copy, swap the brand, and we'll register it as part of your sender-ID onboarding.
- Mobile subscribers
- 106M
- Sender ID lead
- 7-14 business days
- Time-to-launch
- Live in 8–19 business days from test-access request to production (set by the sender-ID lead time)
- Billed in
- USD / EGP / AED
BroadNet: your code 581204 — valid 10 minutes.
BroadNet: رمزك 581204 — صالح 10 دقائق.
Every alphanumeric ID requires NTRA + operator approval. Latin or Arabic; one ID per use-case per entity. Foreign senders must terminate via an NTRA-licensed local aggregator.
See how enterprises put these operator-direct routes to work in banking and finance messaging and e-commerce and retail messaging, or weigh the options on the messaging platform comparison hub.
Best SMS provider in EgyptMore on Egypt
Request current route availability for Egypt.
Live in 8–19 business days from test-access request to production (set by the sender-ID lead time). Sender ID filed with NTRA on your behalf. Billed in USD from day one.
$ curl -X POST https://api.broadnet.me/sms/sendSms·mno = +20