Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, and other regional-language SMS need Unicode encoding- which fits far fewer characters per segment than English text. Know the real segment count before you budget a campaign.
DLT-Registered Operator · 10,000+ Indian Businesses · Noida, India
160
GSM-7 Chars / Segment
70
Unicode Chars / Segment
9+
Indian Languages Supported
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Every SMS is sent using one of two encodings. Standard SMS uses GSM-7, a compact 7-bit encoding built for the English/Latin alphabet, digits, and a small set of common symbols- it packs up to 160 characters into a single billed segment. The moment a message contains a character GSM-7 doesn't support- including every letter of Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, and other Indian regional scripts- the entire message switches to UCS-2 Unicode encoding, which uses 16 bits per character instead of 7.
| Aspect | GSM-7 (Standard SMS) | Unicode (Regional Language) |
|---|---|---|
| Character set supported | English / Latin script only | Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu & other non-Latin scripts |
| Bits per character | 7-bit | 16-bit |
| Single-segment limit | 160 characters | 70 characters |
| Multi-segment limit (per segment) | 153 characters | 67 characters |
| Why multi-segment is lower | Concatenation header reserves a few characters per part | Concatenation header reserves a few characters per part |
Character set supported
Bits per character
Single-segment limit
Multi-segment limit (per segment)
Why multi-segment is lower
Both encodings lose a few characters per part on multi-segment messages- the concatenation header that lets phones reassemble the parts in order takes up space in every segment.
A 150-character promotional message written in English fits comfortably within the 160-character single-segment limit.
Result: 1 segment = 1 message charge
The same message translated into Hindi frequently exceeds the 70-character single-segment limit, since translated text doesn't map 1:1 in length with the English original.
Result: typically 2-3 segments = 2-3 message charges
The per-segment SMS rate is identical in both cases- the Hindi version simply needs more segments to carry the same message, because Unicode's 16-bit encoding leaves far less room per segment than GSM-7's 7-bit encoding.
Any language written in a non-Latin script requires Unicode encoding- these are the most common in Indian bulk SMS campaigns.
Unicode detection, segment-count preview, and DLT template support for regional-language SMS.
Every outgoing message is scanned for non-GSM-7 characters, so Unicode encoding is applied automatically- no manual flagging needed.
See the exact number of billed segments a message will use in the target language before a campaign goes out.
Support for registering Hindi and regional-language templates on DLT, matching the exact Unicode text that will be sent.
Run English and regional-language variants of the same campaign side by side, each priced on its own segment count.
Get Click Media is a DLT-registered bulk SMS operator based in Noida, sending Hindi and regional-language campaigns for 10,000+ Indian businesses. Every message is automatically checked for Unicode characters and previewed for its actual segment count, so there are no cost surprises- and our team supports DLT registration for regional-language templates in the exact script you plan to send.
Big or small, we power communication for all- talk to us today.
Unicode SMS is a text message encoded in UCS-2 instead of standard GSM-7 encoding, used whenever the message contains characters outside the Latin/English alphabet- such as Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, or Telugu script.
Unicode encoding uses 16 bits per character instead of GSM-7's 7 bits, which cuts the characters-per-segment from 160 down to 70. A message that fits in one segment as English text often needs 2-3 segments as Hindi or regional-language text, and each segment is billed separately- even though the per-segment rate itself doesn't change.
A single-segment Unicode SMS holds up to 70 characters, compared to 160 characters for a single-segment GSM-7 (English) SMS.
When a message splits across multiple segments, each part reserves a small header for concatenation (so phones can reassemble the parts in order), which drops the usable characters per segment from 70 to 67 for Unicode, and from 160 to 153 for GSM-7.
Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, and other Indian languages written in non-Latin scripts all require Unicode/UCS-2 encoding.
Yes, but the entire message is encoded as Unicode as soon as it contains even one non-GSM-7 character- so the 70/67-character segment limits apply to the whole message, not just the Hindi portion.
Get Click Media's platform shows a segment-count preview based on the actual encoded text, so you can see the real cost impact of a regional-language campaign before it goes out.
Yes. Emojis and other special characters aren't part of the GSM-7 character set, so including them switches the whole message to Unicode encoding and drops the segment limit to 70/67 characters, just like regional-language text.
Test the actual character count of your translated message rather than assuming a 1:1 length with the English version, keep regional-language templates concise since the segment threshold is much lower, and use 2-3x the segment count of an equivalent English message as a starting estimate- not a guaranteed multiplier, since it depends on the specific text.
The DLT process itself is the same, but the template content must be registered in the exact Unicode script that will be sent. Get Click Media supports registering Hindi and regional-language templates on DLT. See our DLT-registered bulk SMS services.
Get Click Media previews your segment count, detects Unicode automatically, and supports DLT registration for regional-language templates.
