Uses of SMPP around the world as part of an SMS Gateway.
Short Message Peer-to-Peer (SMPP) is used as an access protocol, or SMS API, by SMS gateways worldwide. Other SMS APIs such as HTTP, SMTP and XML are also often offered. SMPP is preferable to these other SMS APIs because it is ideal where significant volumes of SMS are sent and/or received, when an industry standard protocol is preferable for development and maintenance purposes, or when vendor lock-in must be avoided. In SMPP terminology, an SMS gateway is referred to as a Routing Entity (RE). However, they may be called an External Short Message Entity (ESME) in the context of the SMPP communication with an SMSC.
SMS gateways are used to bridge between applications that need to send and/or receive SMS and a mobile network's Short Message Service Center (SMSC). As a result, SMS gateways provide a means of sending and receiving SMS between applications and mobile users. Providers of SMS gateway services include SMS aggregators and mobile operators.
List of international SMS gateway services from around the world that support SMPP.
| Country | Provider | Service | SMPP over TLS? | Inbound | Reference | Online Signup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyprus | SMS.to | SMPP API | Yes | Yes | https://sms.to/smpp-api | Yes |
| UK | Melrose Labs | Tyr SMS Gateway | Yes | Yes | https://melroselabs.com/services/tyr-sms-gateway/ | Yes |
| UK | WorldText | WorldText | Yes | Yes | https://www.world-text.com | Yes |
List of cloud SMS gateway platforms that can be used to run your own SMS gateway.
| Provider | Service | Reference | Online Signup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melrose Labs | SMPP SMS Gateway | https://melroselabs.com/services/smpp-sms-gateway/ | Yes |
Other SMS gateways supporting SMPP can be found by searching on Google for SMPP SMS Gateways.
The following shows the difference between the ways in which an application is communicating with a mobile, when using SMPP between the application and the immediate SMSC or SMS gateway entity:
The performance and level of SMPP support can vary greatly between SMS gateway providers. It is important to perform implementation testing that validates the performance and level of SMPP support that your application requires. Good providers will always provide a Protocol Implementation Conformance Statement (PICS) describing the level of their SMPP support. Other important areas that require testing include character set support (€ character, UCS2, etc), delivery latency (what percentage of your SMS are delivered with 15s, 30s, 60s, 5m, 10m, 15m) and retry profile (when a mobile is absent or otherwise unreachable, how long before the message will be retried by the delivering SMSC).
