Guidelines

Colombia (CO)

Locale Summary

Locale name

Colombia

ISO code
The International Organization for Standardization two character representation for the given locale.

CO

Region

South America

Dialing code
The dialing prefix used to establish a call or send an SMS from one locale to the given locale.

+57

Guidelines

Use Cases

Short codes are ideal for high-throughput programmatic messaging.

Short codes are approved for specific use cases, so if you are experiencing carrier filtering on long codes you may be a good candidate for short codes.

Some of the most common use-cases for short codes in Colombia are: 

  • Two-factor authentication (2FA) or one-time passwords (OTP)
  • Promotional or marketing alerts
  • Account alert notifications
  • Reminders (appointments, upcoming payments, etc.)

Restrictions

Short codes can only message users on carriers within the countries in which they are provisioned. If your customers do not have Colombian phone numbers on carrier networks that have approved that short code, you should not obtain a Colombia short code. If you have customers in other countries, Twilio may be able to provision short codes in those countries.

Short codes require express consent from end users before any SMS can be sent; if you cannot obtain consent you should not use a short code.

Twilio and/or the carriers will not support certain types of campaigns, including: 

  • Those in which express end-user consent cannot be obtained. This includes friend-to-friend invite-based campaigns, as well as opt-ins obtained through lead generation.
  • Campaigns containing sexual/adult content (which are prohibited by Twilio’s AUP).

Please note that all Colombia Short Codes that we offer are FTEU (Free to End User) and the owner pays extra to send messages for which end users do not pay.

Minimum term commit for Colombia Short Code is 3 months.

The notice period before returning the Short Code is 1 month (provided minimum term commit has been fulfilled).

If Short Code does not have any traffic in Colombia for 30 days or more, there is a high chance of it to be withdrawn due to absence of usage.

Refer to this article for detailed explanation on Colombia Short Code Best Practices.

Other Options

Requirements

To apply for Colombia Short Code the following details are needed:

  • Brand/Company
  • Type of Traffic and Use case
    • I.e Marketing or Notifications
  • Monthly Volume
    • Amount of messages sent monthly
  • Specify if it is A2P or Promo 
  • Examples of SMS Text
    • Please include URL (if applicable) as it must be pre-approved by the vendor
  • Preferred Billing Method:
    • Quarterly or Yearly (prices can be reviewed from here)

Timeframe

  • Random Short Code: 2 weeks, once you submit all required information and documentation.

Please expect delays on any applications submitted from December through mid January, as the wireless carriers have an annual provisioning freeze during this time.

Regulatory Bodies

Comisión de Regulación de Comunicaciones (CRC)

Pricing

Click to see SMS pricing, including for short codes.

Next Steps

To apply for Colombia Short Code please follow these steps:

  • Check all the requirements above and collect all the needed details.
  • Send the application including all the requirements to sc@twilio.com.

For the benefit of all our customers, these guidelines are provided to help you comply with applicable requirements and to help ensure Twilio's platform remains compliant with global telecommunications ecosystem requirements. These guidelines represent our current understanding of common compliance requirements generally applicable to Twilio and its customers, and do not constitute legal advice. By posting these guidelines, Twilio makes no assurances regarding the legal compliance of your application built using our APIs. You are expected to understand and abide by all compliance obligations applicable to your specific application. You should check these pages regularly for updates as telecommunications ecosystem requirements continue to evolve and change, and the information below may be updated or changed without notice.