Utilities, ISPs & telecom · Rwanda

SMS for utilities and internet providers in Rwanda

Electricity, water, off-grid solar and internet providers in Rwanda use SMS to deliver prepaid tokens, confirm payments and warn customers about outages. These messages are often urgent and can go out at any hour, which makes it all the more important to keep promotional offers separate and within the rules.

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MTN, Airtel Delivery reports From RWF 21 per SMS

IZUBASOLARTransactional

Izuba Solar: payment of RWF 3,000 received. Unlock code: 4821 9937 1102. Valid 30 days for device {device}. Help: 0788 000 000

128 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Rwanda context

What makes utilities, isps & telecom messaging different in Rwanda

Many households buy prepaid electricity through MoMo or Airtel Money and receive the token number by SMS. A token that arrives late means a customer in the dark, so speed and delivery reports matter.
Off-grid solar companies sell home systems on pay-as-you-go plans in rural districts and send unlock codes by SMS after each payment, often to feature phones.
Home and business fibre providers in Kigali schedule installations and send outage notices to customers who may have no internet when the message is needed. SMS still reaches them.
Planned maintenance affects whole sectors or neighbourhoods. Segmenting customers by district, sector or estate lets you warn only those affected.

What to send

Messages utilities, isps & telecom teams in Rwanda send

Prepaid tokens and unlock codes

Send the token or unlock code within seconds of payment, with the amount paid, the units bought and the meter or device number, so the customer can check it before entering the code.

Bills and payment receipts

For postpaid water, internet or business accounts, send the bill amount, the due date and the payment options such as MoMo or bank, then a receipt as soon as the payment is matched.

Planned outages

Warn affected customers a day ahead with the area, the date and the expected restoration time. Follow up with a short message when service is back, which cuts the calls to your support line.

Installation and technician visits

Confirm the installation date, the technician's name and number, and a link to reschedule. Send a reminder on the morning of the visit so someone is at home or at the office to let the technician in.

Upgrades and bundles, with consent

Faster plans and new bundles are promotional. Send them only to customers who opted in, between 07:00 and 19:00, with an opt-out link given in two languages as the RURA regulation requires.

Sample messages

Copy-ready templates for Rwanda

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.

Solar unlock code Transactional

Izuba Solar: payment of RWF 3,000 received. Unlock code: 4821 9937 1102. Valid 30 days for device {device}. Help: 0788 000 000

128 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Planned outage Transactional

KivuNet Fibre: planned maintenance in Kimironko on {date} from 1am to 4am. Internet may be down. We will text you when it is restored.

136 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Coupure prevue Transactional French

KivuNet Fibre: maintenance prevue a Kimironko le {date} de 1h a 4h. Votre connexion peut etre coupee. Nous vous informerons du retour.

136 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Upgrade offer Promotional

KivuNet Fibre: double your speed for RWF {amount} more per month. Upgrade at kivunet.rw/up. Opt out/Se desabonner: kivunet.rw/stop

132 chars · 1 segment · GSM-7

Rules that apply

Compliance for utilities, isps & telecom SMS in Rwanda

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

Tokens, unlock codes, bills, receipts and outage notices relate to an existing account or subscription, which falls within the Article 4 exclusions of the RURA regulation, so they can be sent at night.
Upgrade offers and new bundles are commercial communications. They need consent, the source of the number, daytime sending and a free opt-out stated in two languages.
RURA also regulates energy, water and telecom services in Rwanda. Check your licence conditions for any customer-notice obligations on outages and tariff changes.
Meter numbers, payment history and location are personal data under Law No 058/2021. Register with the NCSA and keep billing systems that send SMS within Rwanda unless you hold authorisation to store data abroad.

Across Rwanda

Telecom regulator: Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA)
Data protection: Law No 058/2021 on the protection of personal data and privacy, National Cyber Security Authority (NCSA)
Languages: Kinyarwanda, English, French, Kiswahili
Payments: MTN MoMo, Airtel Money

RURA Regulation No 001/R/STD-CMR/RURA/018 governs unsolicited commercial communications. Messages must identify who sent them and state the source of the recipient's data.
Every commercial message needs a free opt-out (stop, end, cancel, unsubscribe or quit). Sending must stop within 24 hours of an opt-out, and the opt-out must be confirmed.
No commercial communications between 19:00 and 07:00 local time unless the recipient explicitly agreed.
Under Law No 058/2021, people can object to direct marketing, and data controllers and processors must register with the NCSA.

Sender ID registration in Rwanda

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 Rwanda. 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": "+250788123456",
    "text": "Izuba Solar: payment of RWF 3,000 received. Unlock code: 4821 9937 1102. Valid 30 days.",
    "sender_id": "IZUBASOLAR"
  }'

Live pricing

SMS pricing in Rwanda

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

Basic

RWF21

per SMS· USD 0.0142

Monthly spend USD 1 - USD 1,000

Business

RWF16

per SMS· USD 0.0108

Monthly spend USD 1,001 - USD 4,999

Enterprise

RWF10

per SMS· USD 0.0068

Monthly spend USD 5,000+

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

FAQ

Utilities, ISPs & telecom SMS in Rwanda: common questions

Can token and unlock-code SMS be sent at night?

Yes. A token or unlock code is delivered because the customer has just paid, which is part of a transaction under Article 4 of the RURA regulation, so the 19:00 to 07:00 rule does not apply. Customers often pay in the evening, so these messages must work at any hour.

How do we know if a token SMS failed?

Each message returns a delivery report by webhook and in the dashboard. If a report comes back failed or no report arrives in time, your system can resend or show the token in the customer's app, and support can see the status when the customer calls.

Can we send outage notices to one neighbourhood only?

Yes. Store each customer's sector or estate, create a group for the affected area and send to that group. If your network management system detects the outage, it can call the bulk API with the list of affected customers automatically.