Guidelines

France (FR)

Locale Summary

Locale name

France

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

FR

Region

Europe

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

+33

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 France 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 French phone numbers on carrier networks that have approved that short code, you should not obtain a France 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 but not limited to:

  • 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).

FTEU (Free to End User) Short Codes are not supported for this country.

Minimum term commit for the Short Code is 3 months.

The notice period for returning the Short Code is 3 months (provided minimum term commit has been fulfilled).

If the Short Code does not have any traffic in France for 30 days or more, there is a high chance for it to be withdrawn due to absence of usage.

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

Other Options

You can choose your France Short Code Throughput from the following MPS selection:

Click here

Requirements

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

  • TPS (Transactions Per Second)
    Please refer to the MPS table above and make your Throughput selection:
    • Low Throughput
    • Medium Throughput
    • High Throughput
    • Highest Throughput
  • Details of the end customers
    • Name and website of the company
  • Monthly Volume 
    • Expected amount of messages sent monthly
    • Estimated traffic start date
  • Use case 
    • Specification for the main purpose of the Short Code, i.e notifications/marketing
  • Examples of SMS Texts
    • If applicable, please include URL as it must be pre-approved by the vendor
  • CONTACT and STOP keywords in French
    • STOP - Must inform the end-customer that the request is taken into account
    • CONTACT- the name of the company, support toll-free number or e-mail
  • Preferred Billing Method:
    • Quarterly or Yearly (prices can be reviewed from here)

Timeframe

  • 8-10 weeks, once you submit all required information and documentation.

Please expect delays on any applications submitted in August or December, as the carriers often experience an annual provisioning freeze period during these times.

Regulatory Bodies

Pricing

Please refer to the following article: How much does a Short Code cost?

Next Steps

To apply for French 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.