Sweden SMS Guide: Sender IDs & Consent

At a glance

A quick operational read on Sweden. Sender behaviour and inbound availability come from the provider and operator layer; permission, identification, opt-out and objection duties come from the Marketing Act and the GDPR, and the anti-fraud rules come from PTS and the 2026 amendments. Anything marked route-dependent is confirmed for the specific path your traffic uses.

SMS to mobile: Supported on selected A2P routes
Number format: +46 7X XXX XX XX — nine national digits after +46
Domestic trunk zero: A domestic form written 07X XXX XX XX carries a trunk 0 that is not part of the international number
Current mobile ranges: PTS currently lists 070, 072, 073, 076 and 079 for mobile telephony services
078 transition: PTS has decided that the 078 series is to be used for mobile telephony services from 1 October 2026
078 validation: Update validation tables and range lists before 1 October 2026 so newly issued 078 mobile numbers are not rejected
Number validation: Confirm the destination is Swedish, SMS-capable mobile and resolve the current operator before routing
Number portability: A subscriber has the right to keep the telephone number when changing provider
Prefix is not the operator: Do not infer the current operator from the prefix; resolve it at send time
Dynamic alphanumeric sender: Supported and preserved on Twilio's current Sweden route, with no preregistration requirement on that route
Domestic long code: Supported and preserved on Twilio's current Sweden route
International long code: Supported and preserved on Twilio's current Sweden route
Dedicated short code: Supported and preserved on Twilio's current route, subject to programme availability
Two-way SMS: Supported when an inbound-capable numeric service is explicitly configured
Inbound testing: Treat replies as unavailable until inbound is configured and tested end to end on the path you buy
Concatenation: Supported, with sender-type and encoding qualifications
Unicode / UCS-2: Supported across Twilio's listed dynamic-alphanumeric, domestic long-code, international long-code and short-code rows
Encoding validation: Test the real Swedish and English copy and its true segment count on the exact route
MMS: Converted by Twilio to an SMS containing a URL
SMS to fixed lines: Not supported on Twilio's standard Sweden route
M2M destinations: Delivery to M2M numbers is best effort only on Twilio's route
Marketing to a natural person: The Marketing Act (2008:486) section 19 requires prior consent for electronic marketing to a natural person, subject only to a narrow existing-customer exception
Marketing identity: Section 9 requires marketing to be clearly identifiable as marketing and the responsible advertiser to be clear
Opt-out address: Section 20 requires every electronic-marketing message to contain a valid address for a request that the marketing stop, including messages to a legal person
GDPR direct marketing: The right to object to direct marketing is absolute, and processing for that purpose must cease
Anti-fraud filtering: From 1 August 2026 providers of telephony and SMS services must stop calls and messages that can be assumed to be used for fraud or to mislead a larger group, assessed on technical indicators rather than content
Sender-name register: The new rules give PTS authority to maintain a voluntary register of sender names; it is not a mandatory live sender-registration scheme
Regulator implementation: PTS states that practical implementation work, including regulations for SMS, continues with a target of early 2027
Sending time: Send during recipient-local daytime unless the message is urgent or explicitly expected; this is our standard, not a Swedish statutory quiet period
Permission standard: Launch on prior affirmative, attributable, purpose-specific and SMS-channel-specific permission unless qualified Swedish counsel documents another valid basis
Last reviewed: 1 August 2026

Route-dependent: “Route-dependent” means the behaviour is decided by the provider, aggregator and operator path your traffic uses, not by Swedish law. Two suppliers can behave differently on the same day, and a route can change its policy. Confirm before launch.

Law, route policy and recommendation

Swedish A2P messaging is often described as a single rulebook. It is not. Numbering, portability and the 2026 anti-fraud duties come from PTS and Swedish statute, permission and identification come from the Marketing Act, privacy and objection duties come from the GDPR, and sender behaviour comes from the route you buy.

Law / regulation
Law and regulation
The Swedish telephone numbering plan and portability rules administered by PTS, the Marketing Act (2008:486), the GDPR as supervised in Sweden by IMY, and the anti-fraud amendments in force from 1 August 2026. These bind you whichever supplier you use.
Carrier or route policy
Carrier or route policy
Dynamic alphanumeric support and preservation, domestic and international long-code behaviour, short-code programme availability, inbound support, concatenation, UCS-2, MMS conversion, fixed-line rejection, M2M best-effort handling, URL handling and category acceptance. This layer changes independently of the law.
Flowstates recommendation
Flowstates operational recommendation
What we ask customers to do because it protects deliverability and keeps you comfortably inside both of the layers above. Deliberately stricter than the legal or route minimum.

Numbering and networks

The basics your validation layer and templates need to get right before the first send.

Law / regulationNumbering plan
Sweden uses ITU country code +46 and mobile country code 240. An ordinary Swedish mobile number is commonly stored internationally as +46 followed by nine national digits beginning with 7.
Law / regulationDomestic trunk zero
A domestic mobile number may be written 07X XXX XX XX. The leading 0 is a national trunk prefix and is not part of the international number.
Law / regulationCurrent mobile ranges
The PTS numbering pages currently list 070, 072, 073, 076 and 079 as number series used for mobile telephony services.
Law / regulation078 series
PTS has decided that the 078 series in the Swedish telephone numbering plan is to be used for mobile telephony services from 1 October 2026, a date moved from the earlier decision. At this guide's review date it is not yet a live mobile range.
Flowstates recommendationPrepare for 078
Update validation tables, allow-lists and range logic before 1 October 2026 so that newly issued 078 mobile numbers are accepted rather than rejected as invalid on the first day they are used.
Flowstates recommendationNormalisation
Remove the domestic trunk 0 when normalising to E.164 and store +46 plus the nine national digits. Normalise at capture rather than at send time, so the same contact cannot exist in two formats.
Flowstates recommendationValidation before sending
A syntactically valid number is not automatically SMS-capable. Validate Swedish jurisdiction, line type and mobile capability, and resolve the current operator before routing.
Law / regulationNumber portability
A subscriber who changes provider has the right to keep the telephone number, and PTS regulations set out how operators handle the transfer.
Flowstates recommendationCurrent-operator lookup
Because portability is active, the prefix does not prove the current operator. Resolve the operator at send time instead of caching one against a contact record.
Carrier or route policyNetworks to plan for
Representative operational paths include Telia, Tele2, Telenor and Tre, plus current or contracted MVNO paths where applicable. Not every supplier holds direct coverage on every path.
Flowstates recommendationPath testing
Test each representative network you actually need, and re-test after a route or sender change rather than assuming one successful path represents the country.
Carrier or route policyFixed lines
SMS to Swedish fixed-line destinations is unsupported on Twilio's standard route.
Flowstates recommendationFixed-line destinations
Do not treat Swedish fixed-line destinations as a delivery channel. Validate line type before routing and route them to a voice or email path instead.
Carrier or route policyM2M destinations
Message delivery to M2M numbers is on a best-effort basis only on Twilio's route.
Flowstates recommendationM2M handling
Do not build a customer-facing or authentication flow on an M2M destination. Identify those numbers during validation and handle them on a separate, tested path.

E.164 example

+46 7X XXX XX XX

A deliberately masked example: country code 46, then the nine national digits beginning with 7. If the number arrives as 07X XXX XX XX, drop the domestic trunk 0 before storing it.

Sender options

Sweden offers an unusually wide set of A2P sender types, and the practical choice depends on whether you need brand identity, inbound replies or a high-scale local programme.

Carrier or route policy

This whole comparison — best for, what the recipient sees and replies — describes provider and operator route behaviour and programme availability on current Swedish paths, not Swedish law. Marketing Act permission, identification and cessation-address duties and GDPR objection duties apply regardless of which sender you choose. A selected sender programme may require assessment, and category acceptance is confirmed privately.

Dynamic alphanumeric sender

Best for: One-way OTP, transactional or service and permissioned marketing traffic where the selected route accepts the use case
What the recipient sees: The submitted brand sender; preserved on Twilio's current Sweden route
Replies: No direct reply path; provide a working alternative support and opt-out route

Sweden domestic long code

Best for: Inbound-capable service, support and conversational flows where a local numeric identity is required
What the recipient sees: The Swedish number assigned to the service; preserved on Twilio's current route
Replies: Yes, when inbound SMS is explicitly configured and tested

International long code

Best for: Selected one-way or conversational traffic where the purchased route explicitly supports the intended inbound and outbound behaviour
What the recipient sees: The submitted international number; preserved on Twilio's current Sweden route
Replies: Route- and service-dependent; do not assume inbound availability

Dedicated short code

Best for: Selected local high-scale programmes where carrier and provider support is confirmed
What the recipient sees: The approved short code; preserved on Twilio's current route
Replies: Route- and programme-dependent

Sender options
Option	Best for	What the recipient sees	Replies
Dynamic alphanumeric sender	One-way OTP, transactional or service and permissioned marketing traffic where the selected route accepts the use case	The submitted brand sender; preserved on Twilio's current Sweden route	No direct reply path; provide a working alternative support and opt-out route
Sweden domestic long code	Inbound-capable service, support and conversational flows where a local numeric identity is required	The Swedish number assigned to the service; preserved on Twilio's current route	Yes, when inbound SMS is explicitly configured and tested
International long code	Selected one-way or conversational traffic where the purchased route explicitly supports the intended inbound and outbound behaviour	The submitted international number; preserved on Twilio's current Sweden route	Route- and service-dependent; do not assume inbound availability
Dedicated short code	Selected local high-scale programmes where carrier and provider support is confirmed	The approved short code; preserved on Twilio's current route	Route- and programme-dependent

Route policy: on Twilio's current Sweden route, dynamic alphanumeric sender IDs are supported and preserved with no preregistration requirement, domestic and international long codes are supported and preserved, short codes are supported and preserved subject to programme availability, and UCS-2 is supported on all four of those sender rows.

What changes by traffic type

The same Swedish destination behaves very differently depending on the category you send, the sender type you chose and the permission you actually hold.

OTP / authentication

Suitable on a dynamic alphanumeric sender, or on an explicitly configured numeric path where replies are intentional.

Flowstates recommendation
Prefer a dynamic alphanumeric sender for one-way branded OTP, and use an explicitly configured numeric path only where an inbound flow is intentional.
Flowstates recommendation
Keep the copy purely transactional, concise and within one segment where practical.
Flowstates recommendation
Identify the brand and the purpose, and include an appropriate code-expiry cue.
Flowstates recommendation
No promotional copy in authentication templates.
Flowstates recommendation
Use a branded full domain only when a link is genuinely necessary and accepted on the selected route.
Flowstates recommendation
Document the user action and context that caused the OTP. That record supports the authentication exchange; it is not marketing permission.
Flowstates recommendation
Monitor delivery, latency, completed-verification conversion and per-route and per-operator performance rather than submitted-versus-delivered counts alone.
Flowstates recommendation
Configure failover, but make sure every fallback sender and path is itself valid for Sweden and for the traffic you are sending.
Carrier or route policy
Replies only exist where inbound is configured on the selected service.
Flowstates recommendation
Do not design an authentication flow around a reply unless inbound is configured and tested on the path you buy.

Transactional / service

Suitable for expected alerts, confirmations, account updates and support on a valid sender.

Flowstates recommendation
Keep the content within the purpose for which the number was provided.
Flowstates recommendation
Identify the brand and the purpose in the body of the message.
Carrier or route policy
Branded links are deliverable only where the URL and the sender type are accepted on the selected path.
Flowstates recommendation
A service context does not create permission for unrelated marketing. The category follows the content and purpose, not the template name.
Flowstates recommendation
Test sender preservation, inbound replies, URLs, concatenation, Unicode and MMS conversion on the exact path before launch.
Flowstates recommendation
Maintain an objection, revocation and suppression process for every recurring programme, with a named owner.
Flowstates recommendation
Keep marketing copy out of transactional templates.

Marketing / promotional

Marketing Act duties and GDPR objection rights both apply, and route acceptance is a separate question again.

Law / regulation
The Marketing Act (2008:486) section 3 defines electronic mail as an addressed or otherwise individualised electronic message sent over a public electronic communications network and stored until the recipient retrieves it — a definition broad enough to encompass addressed SMS.
Law / regulation
Section 19 allows a trader to use electronic mail in marketing to a natural person only if that person has consented in advance.
Law / regulation
The existing-customer exception applies only where the electronic address was obtained in connection with the sale of a product to that person, and only if the person has not objected, the marketing concerns the trader's own similar products, and the person was clearly given a free and easy opportunity to object both when the address was collected and in every subsequent marketing message.
Law / regulation
Section 9 requires all marketing to be designed and presented so that it is clearly apparent that it is marketing, and so that the party responsible for the marketing is clear.
Law / regulation
Section 20 requires every electronic-marketing message to contain a valid address to which the recipient can send a request that the marketing cease, and that requirement also applies when marketing to a legal person.
Law / regulation
Under the GDPR a data subject's right to object to direct marketing is absolute, and personal data may no longer be processed for that purpose once an objection is made.
Flowstates recommendation
Do not treat a customer relationship on its own as blanket marketing permission. Flowstates launch standard is prior affirmative, attributable, purpose-specific and SMS-channel-specific permission for human-held mobile numbers, unless qualified Swedish counsel documents that every condition of the section 19 exception, or another valid scenario, is genuinely met.
Flowstates recommendation
Do not use bought or rented lists.
Flowstates recommendation
Recognise STOP, AVREG, AVSLUTA and SLUTA plus reasonable Swedish or English natural-language equivalents. Do not present one keyword as the exclusive statutory method of opting out.
Flowstates recommendation
Suppress immediately and across every sending system rather than at the next campaign build.
Flowstates recommendation
Use a branded full domain. Do not use public or shared shorteners.
Flowstates recommendation
Send marketing during recipient-local daytime unless the message is urgent or explicitly expected.
Carrier or route policy
Category acceptance, URL handling and sender eligibility remain route-specific and are confirmed privately rather than published as a list.

Sweden electronic marketing, privacy and anti-fraud rules

Three separate bodies of Swedish and EU rule are involved, and supplier documentation routinely merges them: the Marketing Act, the GDPR as supervised by IMY, and the anti-fraud amendments in force from 1 August 2026. Route policy is a fourth layer that is not law at all.

Law / regulation
The Marketing Act (2008:486) section 3 defines electronic mail as an addressed or otherwise individualised electronic message in text, voice, sound or image form, sent over a public electronic communications network and capable of being stored in the network or in the recipient's terminal equipment until retrieved. Individualised SMS falls within that description.
Law / regulation
Section 19 provides that a trader may use electronic mail in marketing to a natural person only if that natural person has consented in advance.
Law / regulation
Where the trader obtained the person's electronic address in connection with the sale of a product to that person, the prior-consent requirement does not apply if the person has not objected to the address being used for marketing by electronic mail.
Law / regulation
The same exception also requires that the marketing concerns the trader's own similar products.
Law / regulation
The exception further requires that the person is clearly given the opportunity, free of charge and easily, to object to the address being used for marketing purposes both when it is collected and in every subsequent marketing message.
Flowstates recommendation
Treat the exception as narrow and evidence-based. Record which sale produced the address, the objection opportunity presented at collection, the similar-product analysis and the objection route repeated in each message, and have qualified Swedish counsel own that analysis.
Law / regulation
Section 9 requires all marketing to be designed and presented so that it is clearly apparent that it is marketing, and it must also be clear who is responsible for the marketing.
Law / regulation
Section 20 requires that a message used for marketing by electronic mail always contains a valid address to which the recipient can send a request that the marketing cease. This applies also when marketing to a legal person.
Flowstates recommendation
Implement the cessation address as a route the recipient can actually use from an SMS, keep it working for the life of the programme, and apply it to B2B campaigns as well rather than only to consumer sends.
Law / regulation
The GDPR requires processing of personal data to be transparent and to rest on a lawful basis, and Swedish supervision is carried out by IMY.
Law / regulation
IMY states that the right to object to direct marketing is absolute: where the data subject objects, the personal data may no longer be processed for such purposes and that processing must cease.
Law / regulation
Under Article 21 the data subject must be informed of the right to object clearly and separately from any other information, at the latest at the time of the first communication.
Flowstates recommendation
Retain attributable evidence for every permission and objection: the source, the timestamp, the purpose, the channel, the notice version presented, any section 19 exception analysis relied on, and the full suppression history.
Law / regulation
From 1 August 2026, amendments adopted by the Riksdag require providers of telephony and SMS services to stop calls and messages that can be assumed to be used for fraud or to mislead a larger group of recipients.
Law / regulation
That assessment is not to be based on the content of calls or messages, but on technical information such as abnormal traffic patterns and other technical indicators.
Law / regulation
The same rules give PTS the authority to maintain a voluntary register of sender names, so that it can be verified that a message comes from the stated sender.
Law / regulation
PTS states that it is now reviewing how the new tools are to be applied in practice, including for SMS, and that regulations for applying them are targeted for the beginning of 2027. A mandatory sender-ID registration regime is therefore not live today.
Flowstates recommendation
Use stable sender, domain and template combinations, keep sender ownership attributable to your brand, ramp volume in controlled steps and monitor live traffic, so legitimate Swedish traffic does not resemble the abusive patterns these rules target.
Carrier or route policy
Dynamic alphanumeric support and the absence of preregistration, numeric and short-code availability, sender preservation, inbound support, concatenation, UCS-2, MMS conversion, fixed-line handling, M2M best-effort delivery and category acceptance are provider and operator route policy. They are neither Marketing Act nor GDPR duties, and satisfying one does not satisfy the other.

Operational compliance checklist

What we expect to see in place before a Sweden route goes live.

Flowstates recommendation
Store destinations as +46 plus the nine national mobile digits, removing the domestic trunk zero.
Flowstates recommendation
Recognise the current 070, 072, 073, 076 and 079 mobile ranges in validation.
Flowstates recommendation
Record that 078 enters mobile service on 1 October 2026 and update validation before that date.
Flowstates recommendation
Validate Swedish jurisdiction, line type and SMS capability before routing.
Flowstates recommendation
Resolve the current operator at send time and never infer it from the prefix, because portability is available.
Flowstates recommendation
Select a dynamic alphanumeric sender, a Swedish domestic long code, an international long code or a short code deliberately rather than by default.
Flowstates recommendation
Confirm sender preservation, inbound support, fallback behaviour, URL handling and category acceptance before launch rather than during it.
Flowstates recommendation
Keep brand, website, use case, permission journey, templates and live traffic materially aligned.
Flowstates recommendation
Separate OTP, service and marketing purposes, templates and permission records.
Law / regulation
Marketing by electronic mail to a natural person requires prior consent, unless every condition of the narrow existing-customer exception is met.
Flowstates recommendation
Retain prior-consent evidence, or a documented section 19 existing-customer exception analysis satisfying every condition, before any promotional send.
Law / regulation
Marketing must be clearly identifiable as marketing and the responsible advertiser must be clear.
Law / regulation
Every electronic-marketing message must contain a valid address for a request that the marketing cease, including messages to a legal person.
Law / regulation
A data subject's objection to direct marketing must be honoured and processing for that purpose must cease.
Flowstates recommendation
Suppress immediately across every sending system rather than at the next campaign build.
Flowstates recommendation
Do not use bought or rented lists.
Flowstates recommendation
Use a branded full domain rather than a public or shared shortener.
Flowstates recommendation
Send marketing during recipient-local daytime as the Flowstates standard.
Flowstates recommendation
Test Telia, Tele2, Telenor, Tre and any applicable MVNO paths that your traffic will actually use.
Flowstates recommendation
Test alphanumeric, long-code and short-code presentation, inbound replies, concatenation, Unicode and UCS-2, MMS URL conversion, M2M handling, link filtering and opt-out handling.
Flowstates recommendation
Use stable sender, domain and template combinations and monitor abnormal traffic patterns in light of the anti-fraud rules in force from 1 August 2026.
Flowstates recommendation
Keep template, notice, consent or exception, sender, route-approval, opt-out and suppression evidence in one retrievable place.

Encoding and delivery

Swedish copy usually fits GSM-7, but smart punctuation, emoji and other non-basic characters can switch a template to Unicode and change what you pay for and what arrives.

GSM-7, single segment: 160 characters
GSM-7, concatenated: 153 characters per segment
Unicode / UCS-2, single segment: 70 characters
Unicode / UCS-2, concatenated: 67 characters per segment

Carrier or route policy
Twilio currently supports UCS-2 on its dynamic-alphanumeric, domestic long-code, international long-code and short-code rows for Sweden. That is provider route policy for those sender types, not a national guarantee.
Flowstates recommendation
Å, Ä and Ö are part of the GSM-7 alphabet, so ordinary Swedish copy often stays in GSM-7. Smart punctuation, emoji and other non-basic characters can still force UCS-2, so verify the encoding a template actually produces rather than assuming all Swedish copy behaves the same way.
Flowstates recommendation
Test the real encoded Swedish and English copy, and its true segment count, on the exact sender and operator paths you will use.
Flowstates recommendation
Use the masked format +46 7X XXX XX XX in documentation and test fixtures. Never publish or share a real subscriber number.
Flowstates recommendation
Remove the domestic trunk zero when normalising, and resolve the live operator rather than relying on the prefix, because portability is active.
Carrier or route policy
MMS conversion to an SMS containing a URL, URL handling, M2M best-effort delivery and sender presentation are decided by the provider and operator path.
Flowstates recommendation
Keep OTP to one segment where practical. A provider maximum is a technical ceiling, not a copy target.

A country guide is only useful when the route follows it.

Knowing the Swedish rules is the easy half. Keeping every send inside them — on the right sender, across route policy that changes independently of PTS and IMY — is the operational half, and that is the part we run.

Per-country and per-category routing
OTP, transactional and marketing traffic take different Swedish paths, with the right sender type and policy applied to each category.
SenderID management
We manage sender identity across Swedish dynamic alphanumeric senders and validated numeric senders, and keep the approved use case aligned with what you actually send.
Carrier-grade failover
When a Swedish path degrades, traffic moves to another valid sender and route rather than to whatever is available.
Per-route visibility
Delivery, latency and OTP conversion measured per sender and per operator path, so a filtering change shows up as data rather than as complaints.
24/7 vendor escalation
We chase the supplier and the operator. You get the update, not the ticket queue.
BYOV / BYOG
Keep your existing Swedish supplier, senders and contracts and let us operate the routing, or use ours.
Branded short links
Links on your own domain instead of a shared shortener, which route filters treat very differently.

Developer docs Branded short links

What we need to validate your Sweden route

Send us these and we will come back with the sender options that apply, the route behaviour we can confirm and the rules that govern your category.

Company or legal entity and website
Customer-facing brand name
Traffic category and use case
English, Swedish and other local-language sample templates for each distinct use case
Expected monthly volume and peak sending rate
Preferred sender type
Existing Sweden sender inventory and current provider at a high level
Opt-in and permission journey, screenshots or evidence and the exact wording
Any section 19 existing-customer exception analysis you rely on
Privacy-notice and terms URLs
Marketing legal basis and the owner of the legal review
Internal objection, opt-out and suppression process and its owner
Link domains you intend to use
Whether you need replies or two-way messaging
M2M, MMS, Unicode and multi-segment requirements
How numbers are collected, normalised and validated
Target launch date

Validate my Sweden route Book a messaging review

Frequently asked questions about SMS in Sweden

Can I send SMS to mobile numbers in Sweden?

A quick operational read on Sweden. Sender behaviour and inbound availability come from the provider and operator layer; permission, identification, opt-out and objection duties come from the Marketing Act and the GDPR, and the anti-fraud rules come from PTS and the 2026 amendments. Anything marked route-dependent is confirmed for the specific path your traffic uses. SMS to mobile: Supported on selected A2P routes. Number format: +46 7X XXX XX XX — nine national digits after +46. Domestic trunk zero: A domestic form written 07X XXX XX XX carries a trunk 0 that is not part of the international number. Current mobile ranges: PTS currently lists 070, 072, 073, 076 and 079 for mobile telephony services.

Which sender ID options work for SMS in Sweden?

Sweden offers an unusually wide set of A2P sender types, and the practical choice depends on whether you need brand identity, inbound replies or a high-scale local programme. Dynamic alphanumeric sender — Best for: One-way OTP, transactional or service and permissioned marketing traffic where the selected route accepts the use case. Sweden domestic long code — Best for: Inbound-capable service, support and conversational flows where a local numeric identity is required. International long code — Best for: Selected one-way or conversational traffic where the purchased route explicitly supports the intended inbound and outbound behaviour. Dedicated short code — Best for: Selected local high-scale programmes where carrier and provider support is confirmed.

What are the consent and opt-out requirements for SMS in Sweden?

Three separate bodies of Swedish and EU rule are involved, and supplier documentation routinely merges them: the Marketing Act, the GDPR as supervised by IMY, and the anti-fraud amendments in force from 1 August 2026. The Marketing Act (2008:486) section 3 defines electronic mail as an addressed or otherwise individualised electronic message in text, voice, sound or image form, sent over a public electronic communications network and capable of being stored in the network or in the recipient's terminal equipment until retrieved. Individualised SMS falls within that description. Section 19 provides that a trader may use electronic mail in marketing to a natural person only if that natural person has consented in advance. Where the trader obtained the person's electronic address in connection with the sale of a product to that person, the prior-consent requirement does not apply if the person has not objected to the address being used for marketing by electronic mail.

How many characters fit in an SMS to Sweden?

Swedish copy usually fits GSM-7, but smart punctuation, emoji and other non-basic characters can switch a template to Unicode and change what you pay for and what arrives. GSM-7, single segment: 160 characters. GSM-7, concatenated: 153 characters per segment. Unicode / UCS-2, single segment: 70 characters. Unicode / UCS-2, concatenated: 67 characters per segment.

Sources and change control

Regulator, statute and provider references behind this guide. PTS controls Swedish numbering, portability and anti-fraud wording, the consolidated SFS text controls the Marketing Act, IMY and the GDPR text control privacy and objection wording, and Twilio material describes that provider's current route behaviour only.

Provider documentation
Twilio — Sweden SMS guidelines
One supplier's current Sweden route: dynamic alphanumeric senders supported and preserved with no preregistration, domestic and international long codes and short codes supported and preserved, UCS-2 supported on those sender rows, two-way SMS supported, MMS converted to SMS with a URL, no SMS to landlines and M2M delivery best effort.
Regulator
PTS — Swedish telephone numbers and addressing
The regulator's numbering pages, including the number series currently used for mobile telephony services and the structure of the Swedish telephone numbering plan.
Regulator
PTS — number portability and blocking services
The right to keep a telephone number when changing provider and the regulations governing how operators handle the transfer.
Regulator decision
PTS — new date for use of 078 mobile numbers
PTS decision that the 078 series is to be used for mobile telephony services from 1 October 2026, moving the previously communicated date.
Statute
Marknadsföringslagen (2008:486) — consolidated SFS text
The current statutory text: the section 3 electronic-mail definition, the section 9 advertising-identification duty, the section 19 prior-consent rule and its narrow existing-customer exception, and the section 20 valid cessation address including for legal persons.
Regulator enforcement
Konsumentverket — enforcement of unsolicited SMS and e-mail marketing
Consumer-authority context for how unsolicited electronic marketing to consumers is treated in practice in Sweden.
Regulator guidance
IMY — the right to object
The Swedish supervisory authority's statement that the right to object to direct marketing is absolute and that processing for those purposes must cease.
Regulator guidance
IMY — the data subject's rights
Regulator overview of data-subject rights, including transparency duties and the objection right relevant to direct marketing.
Regulation
IMY — GDPR full text, Article 21
The published Regulation text, including the Article 21 objection right and the duty to inform the data subject of it clearly and separately at the latest at first communication.
Regulator
PTS — new rules to stop SMS and telephone fraud
PTS on the rules entering into force on 1 August 2026: providers must stop suspected fraudulent calls and messages based on technical indicators rather than content, with practical implementation work targeted for the beginning of 2027.
Regulator
PTS — telephone fraud
Regulator page covering the anti-fraud measures, including the authority for PTS to maintain a voluntary register of sender names so a message can be verified as coming from the stated sender.
Parliamentary decision
Sveriges riksdag — committee report TU17, new rules against fraud and other deception
The parliamentary decision behind the amendments, with the changes taking effect on 1 August 2026.

Change log

1 August 2026 — Initial publication; separated Sweden's Marketing Act and GDPR duties from sender and route policy, recorded active number portability and the anti-fraud amendments effective that day, and documented Twilio's dynamic-alpha, numeric and short-code options.

Last reviewed 1 August 2026

Disclaimer

This is operational guidance, not legal advice. Requirements vary by law, message purpose, recipient type, sender, provider, carrier route and customer setup. Flowstates confirms the live route during onboarding.

Sweden SMS guide