Character Limits

A standard GSM-03.38 text message is 160 characters long. 1 UNIT.

A standard non GSM-03.38 text message (e.g. Unicode UCS-2 characters like Chinese or Arabic) is 70 characters long. 1 UNIT.

If the message is longer than these limits, it will concatenate and be sent as 2 UNITS (or more, up to a limit of 10 UNITS).

Note:

  • If you compose your message in a different place e.g. MS Word or Google Docs and then cut and paste the message in, this can result in the content being interpreted as Rich Text.

  • Rich Text changes the message format from GSM to non GSM. If this happens it can cause higher than expected message charges.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_03.38

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Coded_Character_Set

SMS Character Limits .

Concatenation

When concatenation occurs the first message reduces to 153 characters (GSM) or 67 characters (non-GSM), and the remaining characters roll into a second message (concatenation).

The reason for this is that the concatenation information is contained within the UDH and uses space within the SMS payload when concatenation occurs.

Any charge that applies to the message being sent will therefore per UNIT.