SMS Length And Billing

Overview

An SMS will be billed as follows:

0 – 160 characters = 1 SMS (1 credit)
161 – 306 characters = 2 SMSs (2 credits)
307 - 459 characters = 3 SMSs (3 credits)


Calculation

To determine the length of the SMS and how many SMSes will be billed, the following calculation applies:

## Key:
x = Number of characters (taking into account 7-bit and 14-bit)
Math.Ceiling = Rounds up to the next full integer
y = Number of SMSes to be billed

Calculation:
y = Math.Ceiling(x / 153)

## Example:

Total length of characters is 340.
Total length once we count the double characters. eg: “{}”, is 344.
Divide this by 153 (344/153 = 2.248) and take the upper bound (ceiling) of 2.248 to equal 3.
SMS will be billed as 3 SMSes.

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Please note:

  • The above calculation only applies if the SMS is greater than 160 characters in length.
  • Maximum SMS length is 459 characters.
  • SMSes longer than one SMS, i.e. 160 characters, in length are concatenated and display on the phone as one SMS.
  • Anything longer than 459 characters will be truncated and billed as 3 SMSes.