Home market · operator-direct since 2003

Bulk SMS, OTP and TDRA sender ID registration in the UAE.

Bulk SMS and OTP for the UAE on one contract, with TDRA sender ID registration handled on your behalf (typically 5-7 business days). BroadNet originates A2P traffic to Etisalat (e&) and du from inside the UAE — registered with TDRA and billed in AED.

Request route availability for UAE Get pricing for UAE

+971·MCC 424·TDRA·AED billing

Routing snapshot

Direct operators

Operator-direct binds to every major MNO.

Latency

2.6 s

typical OTP

Typical delivery

99.6%

typical delivery rate

Price band

AED 0.0452

per SMS

Regulator

TDRA

sender ID filed

Carrier-grade infrastructure, operating since 2003.

Indicative from-rates

From-rates by channel in UAE

Plan a launch See the full rate card

SMSfrom$0.0123per 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.

02 · Country overview

The UAE A2P market at a glance.

UAE

Direct operators · 2

UAEOther BroadNet marketsBroadNet HQ, Dubai

The UAE has 21.5M mobile subscriptions across a population of ~10M — handset multiplicity in a market with two licensed MNOs (Etisalat / e& and du), one MVNO (Virgin Mobile UAE on du's spectrum), and TDRA as the active sender-ID and content regulator. A2P traffic is heavily formalised: every alphanumeric sender ID is filed with TDRA via the operator, and TDRA rules require an AD- prefix on promotional senders. English and Arabic are first-class on every operator; Arabic UCS-2 routes carry the same SLA as GSM-7. As BroadNet's home market, this is the most operator-tight relationship on the network — sender-ID changes and route re-shapes happen same-business-day.

Technical facts

Technical facts for the UAE

Network codes, message lengths and sender-ID rules in one table. Segment lengths are the GSM standard values (3GPP TS 23.038).

Technical facts for the UAE
Mobile country code (MCC)	424
Dialling code	+971
Operators (MCC-MNC)	Etisalat / e& · 424-02 du · 424-03
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	TDRA (Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority)
Sender-ID rules	Alphanumeric sender IDs must be pre-registered with TDRA via the operator. One ID per legal entity per use case. AD- prefix mandatory on promotional senders under TDRA rules.
Sender-ID lead time	5-7 business days

How to register a sender ID

03 · Supported channels

Channels live in UAE.

One contract, one contact model. Fall back between SMS, WhatsApp, and Voice with shared opt-in evidence and a single audit trail.

Live

SMS

Operator-direct A2P to Etisalat / e& and du. UCS-2 Arabic at parity with GSM-7.

Live

OTP

Sub-3-second median; two-shot OTP supported with DLR confirmation.

Live

WhatsApp Business API live across UAE; OTP and utility templates fully supported.

Available

RCS

RCS Business Messaging available on enabled handsets via Etisalat / e& and du MaaP.

Live

Voice

Voice OTP and TTS callouts live with UAE local-presence caller IDs on request.

04 · Sender ID registration

How do I register a sender ID in the UAE?

Filed end-to-end by BroadNet's compliance team — KYC pack, operator approval, and renewal cycles handled on your behalf.

Scope

TDRA · Etisalat / e&

5–7 business days

Format: Alphanumeric (Latin or Arabic), up to 11 chars. AD- prefix mandatory on promotional senders.
Pre-registration: Required — one sender ID per legal entity per use case
KYC documents: UAE trade licence, signed authorisation letter on company letterhead, sample message templates (EN + AR), traffic-type declaration
Renewal cycle: Annual (AED 500 / year)
Common rejection causes: Generic IDs (INFO, ALERT, UPDATE), brand mismatch with the trade licence, missing AD- prefix on promotional sends, or templates that blend promo and transactional intent.

Scope

TDRA · du

5–7 business days

Format: Alphanumeric (Latin or Arabic), up to 11 chars. AD- prefix mandatory on promotional senders.
Pre-registration: Required — registered alongside Etisalat through the operator portal
KYC documents: UAE trade licence, authorisation letter, sample templates, traffic-type declaration
Renewal cycle: Annual
Common rejection causes: Templates that don't match the registered category, brand collisions on the operator white-list, or non-AD- prefixed promotional senders.

05 · OTP delivery

What OTP delivery looks like in UAE.

Latency profile, peak-hour behaviour, recommended fallback chain, and the fraud signals our firewall watches in-market.

Typical latency window

Median 2.6s, p95 inside 6s on Etisalat / e& and du across business hours. Two-shot OTP delivery confirmed via DLR; long-tail outliers are usually handset reachability rather than network.

Peak-hour behaviour

Throughput holds steady through the working week. Friday morning shows a small dip as the operator routes prayer-time message bursts; BroadNet load-shapes per-MNO to smooth.

Fallback chain

Recommended chain: SMS (primary) → WhatsApp Business OTP after 25s no-DLR → Voice OTP after 45s. Arabic-template fallback registered alongside English.

Fraud signals we watch

SIM-swap fraud attempts spike on banking-onboarding flows; BroadNet's firewall flags new-MSISDN OTP-velocity anomalies. Watch for grey-route injection from foreign aggregators bypassing TDRA — these are blocked at the operator firewall on the route, but in-house apps should monitor for impossible-geography velocity on first-OTP-after-signup.

06 · Marketing SMS rules

What you can — and can't — send.

Opt-in, opt-out, quiet hours, content restrictions, and the penalty regime for the UAE market.

Opt-in

Verifiable opt-in required; source, timestamp, IP, and channel must be logged and retained for the life of the relationship. TDRA can request the audit trail at any time.

Opt-out

Every promotional SMS must carry STOP or ايقاف. Opt-outs are honoured network-wide and audited by TDRA. One-step, irreversible until the recipient re-consents.

Quiet hours

TDRA's spam policy bars marketing text messages between 21:00 and 07:00 GST. Transactional OTP and alerts are 24/7.

Content restrictions

TDRA rules: AD- prefix mandatory on promotional senders. Gambling, adult, and unlicensed financial services blocked at the operator firewall. Arabic templates strongly preferred for consumer-facing marketing.

Regulator penalties

TDRA sanctions for unsolicited or grey-route traffic — fines per violation, sender-ID delisting, and route suspension for repeat offenders. Recent enforcement has focused on AD- prefix violations and off-window promotional sends.

07 · Local operators

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.)
Etisalat / e&	424-02	Direct	A+	AED 0.0452
du	424-03	Direct	A+	AED 0.0452
Virgin Mobile	MVNO · du	Operator-grade	A	AED 0.0452

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	AED 0.0452	AED 0.057	List rate up to 100K messages/month
Growth · 100K+	AED 0.0398	AED 0.050	Auto-tier discount
Volume · 1M+	AED 0.0334	AED 0.0421	Includes quarterly route review
Enterprise	Custom	Custom	Direct operator pricing + signed SLA

Sender ID registration via TDRA: one-time AED 250 + AED 500 / year, handled on your behalf.

Open the UAE rate card

08 · Compliance

Compliant
by default.

Every send is pre-screened against Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) rules, the operator firewalls, and the local privacy framework. Where registration is required, BroadNet files the paperwork on your behalf.

PDPL (Federal Decree-Law 45/2021) governs PII handling. Promotional traffic restricted to 07:00–21:00 GST; transactional 24/7. Data plane sits in Dubai Tier-3 facilities.

Full regulatory deep-dive

Sender ID pre-registration

Alphanumeric sender IDs must be filed with TDRA via the operator. BroadNet manages registration end-to-end (typically 5-7 business days).

AD- prefix for promotional

Marketing senders carry an AD- prefix under TDRA rules. Transactional traffic is exempt but must remain off-promo.

07:00-21:00 GST window

Promotional A2P may only be sent between 7am and 9pm Gulf Standard Time. Transactional (OTP, alerts) is 24/7.

Opt-out + STOP keyword

Every promotional SMS must include an opt-out. STOP and ايقاف are honoured network-wide and audited by TDRA.

PDPL alignment

Federal Decree-Law 45/2021 governs recipient PII. BroadNet's PDPL-aligned data plane sits in MENA-region Tier-3 facilities.

09 · Use cases

Programmes that work well in UAE.

Where the BroadNet operator-direct footprint, the local regulator regime, and consumer messaging habits line up.

01
Banking and Islamic-finance OTP and transaction alerts under the UAE Central Bank PSD framework.
02
Airline itinerary changes, check-in reminders, and gate updates — Dubai's hub status drives heavy travel-vertical volume.
03
Government and Smart-Dubai citizen alerts, appointment reminders, and service-status notifications.
04
E-commerce delivery and last-mile coordination — high parcel-density market with Arabic + English bilingual templates.
05
Healthcare and tele-medicine appointment reminders aligned with DHA / SEHA confidentiality rules.

10 · How BroadNet helps

What we run for UAE senders.

The operator relationships, the compliance workflow, the routing position — all on a single contract and a single account team.

Home-market operator relationships with Etisalat / e& and du since 2003 — sender-ID changes, route re-shapes, and TDRA filings handled same-business-day.
AD- prefix enforcement (TDRA rules) built into the template engine — promotional sends are auto-prefixed and pre-validated.
Arabic-template review by an in-house compliance team — no transliteration shortcuts, no UCS-2 SLA penalty.
PDPL-aligned data plane in MENA-region Tier-3 facilities; recipient PII never leaves the regional perimeter.
AED billing from day one, with USD and SAR also available for group-treasury operations.
Dedicated UAE solution engineer through go-live and a named TDRA-liaison on the compliance team.

11 · FAQ

Buyer questions about UAE.

The questions BroadNet's sales engineers field every week from teams shipping into this market.

Do I need both an English and Arabic version of my OTP for the UAE?

Strongly recommended. UCS-2 Arabic routes carry the same SLA and price as GSM-7, and consumer trust is materially higher on an Arabic OTP — particularly on banking and government use cases. BroadNet's compliance team reviews both Latin and Arabic templates as part of TDRA sender-ID registration.

What's the typical sender-ID approval time with TDRA?

5–7 business days once the paperwork is in. BroadNet handles filing and the annual AED 500 renewal end-to-end; you provide the trade licence and authorisation letter once. Same-business-day turnaround on subsequent template changes against an already-registered ID.

Do I need the AD- prefix on every send?

Only on promotional traffic. TDRA rules require the AD- prefix on every marketing sender; transactional (OTP, alerts, shipment notifications) is exempt. BroadNet's template engine auto-classifies and applies the prefix on registration.

Can I send marketing SMS in the UAE outside the 07:00–21:00 GST window?

No — promotional traffic is restricted to 07:00–21:00 Gulf Standard Time by TDRA. Transactional OTP and alerts run 24/7. The platform enforces the window automatically; off-window promotional sends are held to the next eligible window.

Are BroadNet's routes to the UAE operator-direct?

Yes — every Etisalat / e& and du route on the public coverage table is a direct A2P bind. BroadNet is a TDRA-licensed sender and originates traffic from inside the UAE, not via foreign aggregators.

Which UAE mobile operators does BroadNet deliver to?

BroadNet delivers to both licensed mobile network operators, Etisalat (e&) and du, over operator-direct A2P SMS binds. Sender IDs are registered with TDRA through each operator. Virgin Mobile UAE, the market's one MVNO, runs on du's spectrum.

What WhatsApp coverage do you have for the UAE?

WhatsApp Business API is live across the UAE — BroadNet is an official Meta Business Solution Provider (BSP). OTP, utility, and authentication templates are supported alongside marketing; the same contract and opt-in evidence covers SMS and WhatsApp.

Where does my recipient PII sit?

Inside MENA-region Tier-3 data centres on a PDPL-aligned data plane (Federal Decree-Law 45/2021). Recipient MSISDNs and message bodies do not leave the regional perimeter. The compliance pack is available on signed-NDA request.

What's the fallback if an OTP doesn't deliver?

Recommended chain: SMS first, WhatsApp Business OTP after 25s without DLR, Voice OTP after 45s. All three channels are billed on the same contract, share the same opt-in evidence, and report into a single audit trail.

12 · Sample template

A ready-to-adapt template for UAE.

In the local script alongside English. Copy, swap the brand, and we'll register it as part of your sender-ID onboarding.

Mobile subscribers: 21.5M
Sender ID lead: 5-7 business days
Time-to-launch: Live in 5–15 business days from test-access request to production
Billed in: AED / USD / SAR

Sample A2P template · UAE

English

Your BroadNet verification code is 384921. Do not share it with anyone. Reply STOP to opt out.

Arabic

رمز التحقق الخاص بك من BroadNet هو 384921. لا تشاركه مع أي شخص. للإلغاء أرسل STOP.

Alphanumeric sender IDs must be pre-registered with TDRA via the operator. One ID per legal entity per use case. AD- prefix mandatory on promotional senders under TDRA rules.

13 · Region