Electricity, ISPs & telecom · Nigeria

SMS for electricity distributors, solar companies and ISPs in Nigeria

When a customer buys a prepaid electricity token at night, the SMS carrying the 20-digit code is the only thing between them and a dark house. eSMS Africa delivers token, receipt and outage messages on the transactional route for DisCos, meter providers, solar companies and internet providers, so they arrive whatever the customer's DND setting.

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MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile Delivery reports From NGN 9.1 per SMS

PowerVendTransactional

PowerVend: Token 4821 0937 5512 8846 2093 for meter {meter}. 42.6 kWh, NGN {amount}. Ref {ref}.

101 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Nigeria context

What makes electricity, isps & telecom messaging different in Nigeria

Prepaid electricity customers buy tokens through bank apps, USSD, agents and vending platforms, and receive a numeric token to type into the meter. If the SMS fails, the customer calls the vendor, the DisCo and the bank in turn.
Electricity distribution companies are regulated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, which also oversees metering programmes. Customers expect notice of planned outages and restoration times on their feeder.
Solar home-system and inverter companies sell on pay-as-you-go plans, where each payment adds more days of power. Each payment triggers a code or confirmation sent by SMS.
Fibre and fixed wireless ISPs in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt book installation visits, send renewal reminders and report outages. Promotions for internet plans fall under NCC DND category 6 (communication, entertainment and IT).

What to send

Messages electricity, isps & telecom teams in Nigeria send

Token delivery

Send the token, units and amount as soon as payment is confirmed, formatted in groups of four digits so it is easy to type into the meter keypad.

Planned and unplanned outages

Notify customers on an affected feeder or area about planned maintenance and the expected restoration time, then confirm when supply is back so they stop calling the customer centre.

PAYG solar unlock codes

When a solar customer pays by transfer or agent, send the unlock code and the new expiry date, plus a reminder two days before the next payment is due.

Installation and technician visits

Confirm installation dates for meters, fibre or solar kits with the technician's name and phone number, and a reminder on the morning of the visit.

Renewal and bill reminders

Remind postpaid and subscription customers before their bill or internet plan is due, with the account number, amount and payment options such as transfer, USSD or card.

Sample messages

Copy-ready templates for Nigeria

Character counts and segments are calculated with the same GSM-7 and Unicode rules used for billing. Replace the example brand and values with your own.

Token delivery Transactional

PowerVend: Token 4821 0937 5512 8846 2093 for meter {meter}. 42.6 kWh, NGN {amount}. Ref {ref}.

101 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Outage notice Transactional

EkoGrid: Planned maintenance on the Ajah 2 feeder, Sat 8 Nov, 9am-3pm. Supply will be restored after work is complete.

118 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Solar unlock Transactional

SunBox: Payment of NGN {amount} received. Unlock code {code}. Your system is active until {date}.

103 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

ISP upgrade offer Promotional

FibreHub: Upgrade to our faster home plan this month, same installation, no extra router fee. {link}. Opt out: SMS STOP to {shortcode}

138 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Rules that apply

Compliance for electricity, isps & telecom SMS in Nigeria

A practical summary with sources, not legal advice. Check the regulator's current text for edge cases.

Electricity distribution, metering and customer-service standards are set by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. Follow its rules on outage notices and complaint handling.
Tokens, receipts, outage notices and installation visits are transactional. Keep upgrade offers and new plans in separate promotional messages.
ISP and telecom-related promotions fall under NCC DND category 6 (communication, entertainment and IT), and solar or appliance offers typically fall under consumer goods.
Meter numbers, addresses and payment histories are personal data under the NDPA 2023. Include only the meter number or a masked account in the SMS.

Across Nigeria

Telecom regulator: Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)
Data protection: Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC)
Languages: English, Nigerian Pidgin, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo
Payments: Bank transfer, USSD banking, MoMo PSB, OPay, Moniepoint, PalmPay

The NCC Do-Not-Disturb service lets subscribers text STOP to 2442 to block all promotional messages, or choose partial DND by category (banking, real estate, education, health, consumer goods, tourism, sports, religion and more).
Promotional SMS does not reach numbers on DND. OTPs, alerts and other transactional messages are sent on a separate transactional (corporate) route that operators restrict to non-promotional content.
The Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 gives people the right to object to direct marketing at any time, and processing for marketing must stop once they object.
Sender IDs are approved per network (MTN, Airtel, Glo, T2) and operators apply sending windows to promotional traffic.

Sender ID registration in Nigeria

Send it

From your system to MTN and Airtel in one call

1Create an account and copy a test key (esms_test_...) to try the integration without spending credit.
2Request your sender ID for Nigeria. Until it is approved you can send from the eSMS default sender.
3Call the send endpoint from your app, or upload a CSV in the dashboard with merge fields like {{name}}. Delivery reports arrive by webhook.

Need one-time codes? eSMS Verify generates, sends and checks them in two calls. Full reference in the API docs.

curl -X POST https://sms.esmsafrica.io/api/messages/send \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ESMS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "+2348031234567",
    "text": "PowerVend: Token {token} for meter {meter}. {units} kWh, NGN {amount}. Ref {ref}. Keep this SMS until the token is loaded.",
    "sender_id": "PowerVend"
  }'

Live pricing

SMS pricing in Nigeria

Per-SMS rates for one segment, updated live. Pay as you go with no monthly minimum; volume rates apply automatically by monthly spend.

Basic

NGN9.1

per SMS· USD 0.0068

Monthly spend USD 1 - USD 1,000

Business

NGN7.5

per SMS· USD 0.0056

Monthly spend USD 1,001 - USD 4,999

Enterprise

NGN6.1

per SMS· USD 0.0046

Monthly spend USD 5,000+

Estimate a campaign with the SMS cost calculator or compare all countries in the Africa SMS pricing index.

FAQ

Electricity, ISPs & telecom SMS in Nigeria: common questions

What if the token SMS is delayed?

Use delivery reports. Each message moves through statuses such as submitted, sent and delivered, and a delivery webhook tells your vending system when it has landed or failed. If it fails, show the token in the app or receipt page and let the customer request a resend.

Do token messages reach customers on DND?

Yes. A token is a transactional message about a purchase the customer made, so it goes on the transactional route and DND does not block it. Keep advertising out of the token text so networks do not treat it as promotional traffic.

Can customers report outages by SMS?

With a two-way short code, available to order online for Nigeria, customers can text a keyword such as FAULT with their meter or account number. The message reaches your system by webhook, and you can open a ticket and reply with a reference automatically.